


Darling, Imagine the Future

by Nylkebi23



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Heavy on the angst, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, I finally feel comfortable adding Hurt/Comfort instead of just Hurt so we're making progress!!, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, everyone will show up - Freeform, light on the plot, this is dark af sorry y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-08-02 08:55:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 31
Words: 45,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16302041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nylkebi23/pseuds/Nylkebi23
Summary: A routine raid of a rival gangs base leads to an unsettling discovery for NCT.





	1. Johnny

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! First time posting a pic, not sure how long this will be yet but I had a plot bunny I had to get out! This work deals with lots of implied sexual assault of minors and adults, as well as casual murder, so be careful!

Yuta gestured a subtle hold to Jaehyun, who was leaning against a door frame. The two of them waited, listening for any sounds of gun fire or panic, but there was none. It seemed as though their entry into the manor was still unnoticed. Nodding, Yuta looked behind himself to where the other members of the assault team were waiting. Four more pairs of eyes stared back at him, waiting. 

Yuta nodded to Jaemin, who crept forward over the body of a guard on the floor, and inserted a pick into the lock on the door. With a few twists, the lock clicked open, and he smiled, triumphant. Him and Jeno pushed the door open and quickly slipped into the hallway, guns held ready. It was quiet in the building. 2am was a slow time for everyone, including their rival gang. Lucas and Johnny followed closely behind the two boys, ready for any larger show of force, with Yuta and Jaehyun bringing up the rear. 

“Shit.” whispered Jaemin, as he felt his foot catch on some kind of wire. The group stopped, quickly forming up into a circle. They didn’t have to wait long. Low level gang members started rushing out from various rooms, half dressed and angry. The NCT members started shooting, methodically working their way through the house. 

“Really, Jaemin?” Jaehyun said, angrily shooting a man through the eye. “You couldn’t have waited until we were in G-Dragons room before fucking something up?” He punctuated this statement by grabbing a man around the throat and using him to block shots from another guard. He shot the attacker, before dropping the body of the man he’d used as a shield. 

“Fight now, bicker later.” Johnny said. A bullet skimmed his shoulder, making him hiss and return fire. 

“Easy for you to say.” Jaehyun said. “You’re not the one in charge of making sure the kids behave.” 

“Kids?” Jaemin said. “As if this is our first mission. Jisung is a kid, Chenle is a kid. Jeno and I are part of this team.” 

“Behave like adults and I’ll stop calling you kids.” Jaehyun spat back. 

The gunfire slowed down, the area cleared of guards. It was unlikely anyone in the house could have slept through the fight however, and he sound of feet trampling echoed down from the higher floors. 

“Lets find G-Dragon. Cut the head off the snake, yeah?” Yuta said. “Lucas, with me. We’ll double check these floors downstairs. Everyone else can keep moving.” 

“If you find him before we catch up to you, I will never stop complaining.” Lucas said, following Yuta. The two passed through an open door nearby. 

“Lets go. Stay sharp.” Johnny said. The four remaining members headed up the central staircase. But surprisingly, there was little to find. 

“Yuta,” Johnny said into his headset, “The second floor is clear. How does the first floor look?” 

“I think everyone that was here to fight, fought.” Yuta said. Johnny could vaguely here Lucas yelling “and we kicked their asses!” in the background. Children. 

“Let’s regroup and take the third floor, but I think this might be another dead end.” Johnny said. 

“Roger.” 

The group joined back together, before heading up to the third and final floor. 

“Where did everyone go?” Jeno said, looking into yet another empty room. “I know I heard people moving up here.” 

“They must have escape routes.” Johnny said. “Fuck. I was really hoping we would catch up to them here.” This had just been one wild goose-chase after another, looking for Big Bang and G-Dragon and anything that would give them an edge against YG. 

They continued looking around, peering past doorways with doors left ajar. 

“Guys,” Jaehyun said, calling from further into the building, “This door is still locked.” 

“Huh.” Jaemin walked towards it, pick ready. 

“Looks like everyone ran from us, huh guys.” Lucas said brightly. Johnny shushed him, gesturing towards the closed door. 

“There could still be threats here. Don’t get lazy.” 

The group walked forward towards the door Jaemin was picking. The lock clicked, and Jaemin pushed the door open, revealing a completely dark hallway. 

“Weird.” Johnny said, checking something on his tablet. “This isn’t in the layout of the house we found. It should just be closet.” 

“Can we get some light?” Lucas asked. 

“There’s probably a light switch in there somewhere. Jeno?” Yuta said. 

Jeno crept forward into the pitch, keeping a hand along the wall for guidance. Jaemin followed after, hand on the opposite wall. Suddenly, a weight slammed into him. He turned, grabbing at whatever hit him and pinning the persons arms down to the side. Jeno found the light switch, flicking it on and illuminating the scene. 

Jaemin had a boy held fast by his wrists. His hair was dark, and he was wearing loose shorts and a thin shirt. He was struggling fiercely again Jaemin’s grip, face turned down into a snarl. Yuta raised his gun, pointing it at the new threat. 

“Don’t shoot!” Johnny said, putting a hand on Yuta’s gun as he strode forward. “It’s a kid.” 

“What is he doing up here?” Jaehyun asked. “Looks like a teenager. Probably just a drug runner. What’s he doing on the third floor?” 

“Hey.” Johnny said to the boy. “Stop fighting. We don’t hurt kids.” 

The boy let out a slew of angry noises in Mandarin, before submitting to Jaemin’s grip. He was panting, thin shoulders raising up and down. Jaemin could feel him shaking lightly. “What are you doing here?” he asked. 

The boy said nothing, staring at the ground. 

“Jeno, take him out of here. We need to finish clearing this floor.” Johnny said. The hallway light had illuminated another closed door at the end of the hallway. “Jaemin the door?” 

As Jaemin made to hand the boy off to Jeno, he suddenly wrenched himself out of Jaemin’s grip and ran at the door, throwing himself in front of it. “There’s nothing in there!” he said, voice pitched high and desperate. 

"Well that's awfully convincing." Jaehyun said. "But I think we'll need to check for ourselves if you don't mind." 

Johnny and Jaemin moved forward towards the door again, but the boy wasn't budging, pressing himself so far backwards into the wood Johnny thought he might merge into it. He sighed, running a hand down his face. He really didn't want to deal with a teenage addict trying to protect a drug stash, but it looked like he might have to, noting the track marks in the crooks of his elbow. 

“Stop! Go away!” The boy said, breathing high. “Nothing is back here!” 

“Lucas.” Johnny said quietly. Lucas stepped forward, taking hold of the boy by his waist and lifting him into a fireman’s carry. 

“No!” The boy said, pounding his hands on Lucas’s back. Jaemin quickly unlocked the door, and the group walked through, Lucas holding the boy tightly while he began to sob. "Don't!" 

Johnny crossed into the room, expecting a closet with bags of powder. Instead, the room was simple. There were two dressers, a closet, a bookshelf full of books, an open door leading to a bathroom, and two beds. One bed was unmade and empty. The other was occupied by a figure. 

“He’s sick! Leave him alone!” The boy cried. The figure in the bed stirred at the disruption, lifting his head. He was blonde and fair, face flushed lightly with fever. He was also young, though not as young as the first boy. Yuta moved quickly to the bed to subdue him, but he put up no fight, lying back when Yuta pressed a hand onto his neck and pushed him onto the bed. The first boy was beginning to lose energy, slumping in Lucas’s hold and crying weakly. 

“What on earth,” Johnny said, confused by this turn of events. He stepped forward to the bed to look at the figure more closely, expecting maybe another addict or something similar. His eyes were closed, and he was wearing a similar outfit to the first boy, but his shirt had ridden up a bit, revealing the curve of one hip bone, and next to it a dark brand. 

“Shit,” Yuta said. “Lucas bring the kid over here.” Lucas walked over, dropping the boy onto the bed next to the other. Yuta reached forward to lift his shirt, but he pushed himself backwards off the bed, stumbling into Jeno who grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back. Johnny watched as Jaehyun walked forward, lifting his shirt and revealing the same brand. The boy flinched at the contact, shrinking away from Jaehyun. 

“Wait, what’s that?” Jaemin asked. The boy bucked once in Jeno’s arms before stilling, staring hatefully up at Jaehyun through his dark bangs. 

“It’s a personal use brand.” Yuta said, backing off the bed. The figure didn’t move, staying prone and quiet. “They’re house boys.” 

“House boys?” Jeno asked. 

“Pets. Prostitutes. Whatever you want to call them.” Yuta said, staring blankly down at the figure. Johnny also felt a bit shell shocked, and also incredibly regretful that Jaemin and Jeno were here right now. What a shit mission. In the bed, the second boy stayed quiet and still, eyes open now but staring up at the ceiling. 

“What do we do?” Lucas asked. 

“I’m not sure.” Johnny admitted. “But I think we need to take them back with us. I doubt they have anywhere else to go. Taeyong can make the final call.” As Johnny went to lift the figure in the bed, the first boy started fighting again, pulling harshly against Jeno’s grip. 

“Leave him alone. I’ll do whatever you want. You don’t need him!” He said, his pale face flushed from exertion. Johnny's stomach turned, wishing he could take his men and leave them room. That just wasn't possible. “He’s sick. Just leave him alone! Please.” 

“Jeno, if you could.” Jaehyun said with a sigh, taking the reigns while Johnny took a moment to recover. Jeno hesitated, before he wrapped an arm tight around the boy’s throat, compressing the sides of his neck. He held this until the boy stopped fighting, and then went limp. He manhandled the boy into another fireman's carry, body draped over a shoulder. Johnny scooped up the figure in the bed, whose skin was hot to the touch. He remained still, eyes closing again. His hair was sweaty, and he was light in Johnny’s arms. 

“They’re so young.” Jaemin said quietly, staring. Unconscious, and without the constant motion, the thinness of the first boy was striking. 

“Fuck.” Yuta said. “Let’s get out of here. I need a drink.”


	2. Taeyong, Johnny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I think I'll have normal updates every Sunday, with some additional ones thrown in if I get excited. Which I did. So here's an update! One thing to note is that I use YG and YG groups as "Bad Guys", but its nothing against YG! And then SM groups are, well, our protagonists at least. I'm an SM stan. I'm biased. 
> 
> Anyway. Thanks for the comments, and enjoy the chapter!

Taeyong stared at the two boys Johnny had brought back from the raid. The older one was laid out on a cot, iv nestled into the crook of his arm curtesy of Taeil, while the other sat in a chair by his side, one hand clenched around the older’s hand, and the other hanging loosely from the handcuff that connected him to the cot. His eyes were cast firmly onto the older boy’s face. The older one was also handcuffed, and Yuta stood in the room with a gun held at the ready. 

“What do I do with you?” Taeyong asked aloud. The younger boy flinched from the sudden noise, but refused to look up. He had refused nearly everything since arriving, from water to warmer clothing, accepting only the option to sit with the other boy by his bed when it was offered. His hand hadn’t let go since he grabbed on. 

Taeyong sighed, moving from his casual lean against the wall. “You have to talk to us.” The boy let out a soft stream of Mandarin, tone derisive. “In Korean.” Taeyong stressed. “We know you can speak it. You did plenty of it earlier.” 

The boy remained silent, hands clenched tight. 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Taeyong said, “That’s not really our style. But I also have no reason to keep you here. I’m helping your friend, providing him with medicine.” Taeyong walked closer to the pair, hands clasped behind his back. “I don’t need to help him. I could drop you both off on some street corner now and wash my hands of you.” The boy briefly looked up, before flicking his eyes back down again. 

“Is that what you want?” Taeyong pressed. “He will die without our help. Neither of you could make it on your own right now.” He walked slowly around the bed, coming up behind the boy, who shrunk in on himself. “All I would have to do to kill you both is... nothing.” 

The boy looked up at Taeyong, eyes wary. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “What-” He swallowed- “What do you want?” 

“Information.” Taeyong said, crouching down next to the boy in the chair. “People in your position are in a perfect position for learning things that they shouldn’t know. I’m sure you heard things. Answer my questions and your friend gets the help he needs.” 

“Brother.” The boy said, surprising Taeyong. “He’s my brother.” 

“And your names?” Taeyong asked, hopeful. 

“I’m Renjun,” Renjun said. “And this is Sicheng. I’ll answer your questions. Can I have something to eat first?” 

 

Johnny watched Renjun eating the sandwich in front of him, tearing it into small pieces and carefully bringing each one to his mouth. The handcuff made the process more difficult, but he seemed undeterred, quickly finishing off one before asking, quietly, if he could have another. Lucas, who was present in case any translations were needed, jumped up at that, running out to grab another sandwich. Renjun stared down at Sicheng’s face, bringing one hand up to push some sweaty hair back. 

Johnny had many things to think about right now. Jaemin and Jeno were having a twin breakdown session somewhere in the NCT manor, while Yuta and Lucas were walking on eggshells around the boys they were supposed to be guarding, and Taeyong was being frustratingly quiet on the entire issue, having left shortly after convincing Renjun to talk, retreating back to his room with a quiet command for Johnny to _deal with it_. 

Lucas returning with a new sandwich only increased the tension in the room, and when Taeil walked in to check on Sicheng, it snapped. Renjun turned in his chair, sandwich help protectively in one hand, the other hand gripping Sichengs again, and snarled at Taeil. Yuta responded by shoving forward between the two and pointing his gun at Renjun, who spit at him. Johnny stepped forward before Yuta could get too offended and dropped a heavy hand on Renjuns head. Confused, Renjun dropped his anger and blinked up at Johnny. He looked very young, feet still bare, sitting in a chair with a sandwich held to his chest. 

“Let Taeil check your brother.” Johnny said. “Yuta, I’ve got this. Go find the J’s.” 

Yuta nodded at Johnny, before turning and leaving. Renjun fidgeted in his chair, before nodding as well. Johnny retreated to his earlier seat, letting Taeil in to check Sicheng’s temperature, and switch out his saline drip for a new one. 

“His fever is reduced,” Taeil said, “And he is less dehydrated. He’ll wake up soon, sooner if we let him get restful sleep.” Renjun looked at his brother as though he could will him into perfect health. Johnny could respect that level of devotion. 

“Thank you Taeil.” Johnny said. “Let us know if anything changes, yes?” 

Taeil nodded, heading out the door. Johnny turned in his chair so he faced Renjun head on. Renjun noticed the stare, and hesitantly returned it. “Ready to talk now?” Johnny asked. Renjun nodded. “Good. Tell me a bit about yourself.” 

“I’m Renjun,” Renjun began, looking at Johnny, “and this is my brother. We grew up in the manor.” Renjun’s eyes looked up as he thought, eyebrows furrowing. “We were... taken there? Brought there? When we were younger. I don’t really remember before.” He looked at Sicheng. “Sicheng is older. He would know before better.” 

“Tell me about the people who lived in the manor with you.” Johnny said. 

Renjun hesitated. “The people who lived there were mean. I don’t...” he trailed off. Johnny gave him what he hoped was an encouraging look, and he started again. “I don’t think I know what you want to know. You want to know how people got out of the manor. But if I knew, I would not have been there.” Renjun glared down at his hands. “I hate them.” 

“Did any of them ever talk about other locations they visited? Or any dates or plans?” Johnny asked. 

“I’m not sure.” Renjun said, looking up at Johnny. “They talked a lot, about a lot of things. But most of what they said was... not nice. I don’t think it was important. I wasn’t keeping a journal in case of future gang warfare.” Johnny winced. This wasn’t his favorite conversation either, and damn Taeyong for leaving him with it. 

“Still,” Johnny started, “Someone must have-” 

“Look.” Renjun interrupted, eyes hard. “I agreed to talk. I will tell you what I know, but I want my brother there. Awake and unharmed. And I want agreements from you.” 

“What?” Johnny asked, startled at the sudden fight. 

Renjun’s eyes darted around the room, before settling somewhere safely just over Johnny’s shoulders. “None of you are going to touch Sicheng. None of you are going to touch me. And if we decide to leave, we can leave.” 

As he finished this statement, the door to the room swung open, “Well two of those are fine by me, but the third one just won’t do.” Said the new voice, moving into the room and standing by Johnny’s side. “You two are assets now, with information about names and faces in NCT. Can’t have you wandering off to tell everyone our secrets.” 

Johnny sighed as Renjun’s face turned panicked, looking at the new arrival, before he stamped it down into a glare again. Doyoung, of course, had terrible timing. Johnny was ready to wash his hands of this whole mess though, and dumping it on Doyoung sounded fantastic. However, Doyoung was not alone. 

“Such tact.” Ten said, pushing into the room. “Truly it amazes me.” 

Doyoung turned a frustrated look towards Ten. “They can’t just leave.” 

“Well of course not,” Ten said. “Not without shoes and a coat. Have you looked outside recently? It’s freezing.” Ten walked over to Renjun, who shifted back in his seat, his face young and confused. “I’m Ten. Taeyong sent me over.” He reached down and grabbed the loose hem of his shirt, lifting it slightly, and baring an intricate tattoo over his hipbone, twisting rose petals and vines that didn’t quite manage to cover the ugly brand underneath. Renjun’s eyes zeroed in on it, fixated. “You and me have a lot to discuss.”


	3. Jeno, Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Fall break got me super ahead so have another chapter. Some Jeno POV and then over to Ten. I've now rewritten the first chapter at least a million times and I can't seem to be happy with it, but I think I'm going to leave it alone for now. Also plot! Though don't get your hopes up if plot is what you are here for. This is going to stay primarily character driven.
> 
> Happy first win for Regular!

Jaemin was stressed. Understatement. Jaemin was freaking out. His continued pacing was starting to bother Jeno, who was leaning against a table, trying to clean his gun in peace. 

“Just stop, Jaemin.” Jeno said, giving up on cleaning for now and putting down the gun pieces on the table next to him. 

“What do we do though?” Jaemin asked, hands lifting to push his hair back from his face. “Did we do the right thing? What if Taeyong has them killed?” 

“Why would Taeyong have them killed?” Jeno asked, stepping forward and taking Jaemin’s hands out of his hair, which was slowly progressing into an absolute disaster. 

“I don’t know!” Jaemin shouted, pulling away from Jeno to continue his pacing. “But he could! And we would have brought them here.” 

Jeno stepped forward, catching Jaemin around the waist with one arm and using the other to push his partners head into his neck. Jaemin took several short breaths, panting out onto Jeno’s neck. “Breathe.” Jeno said. 

When Jaemin was breathing at least somewhat normally, Jeno shifted his hold into more of a hug, and Jaemin reciprocated, bringing his arms up and around Jeno as well. “I’m just worried.” 

“Taeyong is a good person.” Jeno said. That was a fact he was sure of. “He wouldn’t hurt them. They’re gonna get asked some questions, that’s all.” 

Jaemin turned his face, looking Jeno in the eyes. “This is fucked.” 

Jeno nodded. “Yeah. It is.” Ever since finding the two boys, Jaemin had been manic, and Jeno had been tense. After getting back to base and delivering the two into Taeil’s care, they had both been looking for something to do, but nothing was forthcoming. Jaemin had even dared to venture into Kun’s lab, which Jeno had told him was a bad idea, before being bodily removed by Chenle, who claimed his very presence there would ruin whatever the two had cooking up. Pacing and cleaning weapons was the only way to keep themselves busy. 

“Hey there kids,” Yuta said as he walked into the room. “Fancy a spar?” 

“Oh thank god!” Jaemin said, separating himself from Jeno’s arms. “I want nothing more than to punch someone right now. Two on one?” 

Yuta scoffed. “Nah. Not looking to get my ass kicked by your freaky twin routine. One on one is my final offer.” 

“Good enough for me,” Jaemin said. He settled into a loose fighting stance, facing Yuta. Jeno stepped away, heading back over to the gun he had abandoned earlier. Surely there was some more grease somewhere to clean off. 

 

Renjun had not stopped staring at the mark swirling on Ten’s skin. Ten understood. Solidarity was a bitch of a motivator to trusting someone, but while Renjun’s mark was unmarred and clean, Ten’s brand had been modified, made into something else. He gave him a minute to look, before dropping his shirt. This snapped Renjun out of whatever had made him hyper focus, and he blinked a few times before finally looking up at Ten’s face. 

“Who?” Renjun asked. “I don’t... why do you have that?” 

“Same reason as you I’m sure.” Ten said, stealing a chair from the corner of the room and dropping it down in front of Renjun. He sat across from him. “It’s old history for me, but I belonged to the same gang you did. A different sub unit, though. One that isn’t around anymore.” 

Renjun’s eyes widened slightly. “And now you... belong to this gang?” His glance shot quickly over to Johnny in the corner, fear painting his features. 

“No!” Ten laughed. “Oh god no. I work here, yes, but as a member. This gang doesn’t keep people the way YG does.” Johnny’s upper lip drew back. Ten smiled at it. “We find the whole thing a bit distasteful to be honest.” 

“I said that no one here was going to touch you.” Doyoung said from his post at Johnny’s side. “I wasn’t lying.” 

“Well why would they trust you Doyoung?” Ten asked, turning to face him. “You’re so tall, it’s like talking to a tree. Tree’s don’t have feelings.” 

Doyoung huffed, “Listen. This can’t really wait on your brother waking up. BigBang is on the move, and we don’t know where to. We need to hit them fast. Renjun.” He looked at the boy. “You need to talk to us. Anything could help.” 

Renjun’s gaze flickered from Ten to Doyoung and back again. He put down the current piece of sandwich before hesitantly reaching out and grabbing Ten’s shirt, pulling. Ten, surprised, looked over at him. They made eye contact, Renjun searching for something, before nodding, seemingly content with what he found. “Ok. We can talk now. But I want another sandwich.” 

Lucas headed out again, probably pleased to be useful. 

“Excellent!” Ten said, clapping his hands. “Doyoung take notes yes?” 

Doyoung said something softly under his breath that was less than polite, before lifting the clipboard and pencil he had brought with him. Lucas came back into the room, handing the third sandwich to Renjun and giving him a large smile. Renjun stared up at him with a blank face, making Lucas’s smile falter slightly before he retreated over to Johnny and Doyoung, the former of whom patted him on the shoulder. 

“There is a beach house.” Renjun started, separating the sandwich into its components. “I was there recently. It’s close by. The car ride was short.” He lifted the turkey up, frowning at it, before folding it over on itself several times and putting it in his mouth. “We go up stairs before we are inside, and inside there are even more stairs.” 

“When did you go there?” Ten asked. 

“Maybe this summer?” Renjun said. “Like I said, it was recent. The weather was very nice. I've never seen the outside of the house, though.” 

Doyoung scribbled something on his pad. “If it was summer, it’s very recent. Its mid-autumn now. Why were you brought there? Do you remember how many people there were?” 

Renjun looked down. “There was a party. They needed people to entertain.” He shifted in his seat, stopping for a moment, before starting again. “People were excited about a new deal. They said that YG was... growing? And that there were new opportunities and that they would finally beat out SM in drugs I think?” 

Doyoung looked up “SM? Are you sure they said SM?” 

Renjun looked at him. “Yes. They said SM. Is... Is that you?” 

Ten smiled, pleased with Renjun’s quick thinking. “Yeah. That’s us. Though we personally are NCT, we work under SM.” 

“Oh.” Renjun said. “They don’t like you.” 

“They shouldn’t!” Lucas said, startling everyone. “We beat them out all the time. The only corner of the market they have cinched is human trafficking, and we don’t work in that at all.” He looked pleased by this fact, which Ten approved of. Human trafficking was nothing to be proud of. 

“How were they going to beat out SM in drugs?” Johnny asked, standing upright from his casual lean against the wall. 

“They had something new.” Renjun said, crossing his free arm around his stomach. “They gave all the entertainment something. It was a pill, ‘Love Scenario’, and we all had to take it. It made it very hard to move, but I felt very floaty too. I don’t remember much else from the party.” Renjun reached again for the dismembered sandwich, but stopped halfway, eyes sad. “Oh. There was a girl there who was young, younger than me. Another entertainment. And she didn’t get up again after taking the pill. She just died.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol I love Love Scenario it's a bop.
> 
> As a heads up, I'm planning on keeping this gen, though many relationships you could read a different way. I'm a big multi shipper with lots of poly ships, but I just don't think any explicit relationships would fit the tone. I'm not sure. Let me know what y'all think honestly.


	4. Doyoung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In honor of Doyoung getting thrown across the floor by both Taeyong and Jaehyun during idol room, have an early update! It's a Doyoung chapter. 1 kudos = 1 prayer for this poor "glass" boy.
> 
> Ok I'm done I promise.

“That’s less than ideal.” Taeyong said. Doyoung had left Ten, Johnny and Lucas with their guests to report what he had learned to Taeyong. “Developing new drugs is one thing. We have Kun for that and he’s quite efficient. But if one of the people taking it died?” 

“We don’t know anything about distribution patterns, or really what the point of it is besides a generic party drug.” Doyoung said, reading over his notes. “I’m not sure why YG would get excited about it to be honest.” 

“Regardless,” Taeyong said, standing from behind his desk, “We need to be aware and on the lookout for... what was it called?” 

“’Love Scenario’,” Doyoung said. “It’ll probably pick up a nickname soon.” 

“Get me in contact with Red Velvet. Their territory borders ours, so they will definitely want to know about this.” Taeyong said, sitting on his desk. Doyoung watched his shoulders rise and fall unsteadily a few times. 

“Yes sir.” He said, bowing low before heading out the door. Worrying about his boss wasn’t his job, but Taeyong was a hard nut to crack, and seeing him stressed at all was a bit disorienting. Maybe handing the boys off to Johnny had been a smarter move than Doyoung had thought. He continued down the hall, knocking once on Mark’s office door before pushing it open. Mark looked up at him from behind his desk. 

“Yeah?” He asked, glasses perched carelessly at the end of his nose. 

“Call Yeri and transfer the call over to Taeyong.” Doyoung said. Mark nodded and picked up his phone, typing away at it. He wasn’t really a secretary, but a lack of an actual secretary meant a lot of his work was very secretary-like. Doyoung turned and continued out the door and down the hall again. He wanted to check back in on the boys. Obviously, they weren’t a threat, but it was better to be careful. A lot of people could get hurt if this base was compromised. When he arrived at the room, he opened the door and stepped in to mild chaos. 

Renjun was no longer handcuffed to the cot, worrying, and was crouched on his chair instead of sitting in it, also worrying. Lucas was standing next to him, _without his gun_ , hands held out pacifyingly to Renjun, whose face said he was not having it. Ten was no help, leaning on Johnny, who also was no help, arms crossed and face amused. Perhaps most surprisingly of all, Sicheng was sitting up in his bed, eyes hazy but open, and was watching Renjun. 

“What.” Doyoung said flatly. 

“Oh good you’re back.” Ten said. “See, Renjun was looking a little sad all handcuffed to his chair, and when Sicheng woke up we didn’t want him thinking anything bad, so we undid it. But when Sicheng here woke up, Lucas got a little over excited and spooked Renjun a bit.” 

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Johnny said, looking at Doyoung’s face and reading his tone. “Lucas is just very tall. Renjun probably also wanted to feel tall.” At this, Renjun turned his furious gaze at Johnny, before visibly collecting himself and carefully lowering himself down into his chair again, taking Sichengs hand in his and beginning a low conversation in Mandarin. Lucas tried a couple of times to interject in the same language, but stopped when both brother’s gazes swung to him, Sicheng’s politely confused and Renjun’s condescending. 

“My uh... my Mandarin is a little rough.” Lucas said in an undertone to Johnny and Ten, stepping back out of Renjun’s space. Not far enough however, as Renjun’s scoff could be heard clearly across the room before he zeroed back in on Sicheng. Lucas winced. “I speak Cantonese better. Maybe Kun...?” 

“We speak Korean well.” Renjun said, not looking away from Sicheng. “We don’t need a translator.” 

Yeah, Doyoung thought. And you probably prefer being able to talk to Sicheng without any of us understanding. 

Johnny looked at Doyoung disapprovingly, as though reading his thoughts. Doyoung didn’t particularly care if Johnny disapproved. “Can I talk to you outside for a minute, Doyoung?” Johnny said. 

The two left the room, Doyoung coming to a halt with his arms crossed gazing at Johnny. 

“I know you don’t like them being here-” Johnny started 

“It has nothing to do with them.” Doyoung interrupted. “But if we just let anyone with a sad background waltz around unwatched in the middle of our base-” 

“They aren’t waltzing around.” Johnny cut in. “And they aren’t unwatched.” 

“Oh yes, because Ten is the best and most unbiased party here.” Doyoung smiled. It wasn’t a nice one, and Johnny winced. 

“What do you think they could accomplish?” Johnny asked, stepping closer to Doyoung. “Two kids, one who’s sick and one who comes up to my shoulders. What great havoc are they going to wreak upon us?” 

“They know things!” Doyoung said, uncrossing his arms. “They know faces and names. You don’t watch what you talk about around them at all-” 

“Who are they going to tell? Doyoung this is-” 

“We don’t know! They were just left behind during a raid, they could be plants or moles or-” 

“We’ve checked them both for any wires. They have no contact with anyone. Yes.” Johnny added, turning away. “I’ll admit I haven’t been watching my mouth much around them.” Johnny hesitated, and Doyoung watched him carefully. They didn’t argue often, so this was new ground for both of them. “It’s hard. It’s hard watching them and seeing bruises places they shouldn’t be and yes” Johnny held up a hand, silencing Doyoung as he started to open his mouth again. “I’m not completely unbiased. Neither is Ten. But neither are you.” 

Doyoung stared at Johnny. He considered himself extremely professional and hearing Johnny say he wasn’t unbiased gave him pause. “How, exactly, am I not the unbiased one here?” 

“You worked directly under Jessica.” Johnny said. “I know you were close.” 

Doyoung closed his eyes, taking in the hit. “That isn’t the same.” 

“How is it not the same?” Johnny asked, walking forward. He placed his hands on Doyoung’s shoulders, squeezing lightly. 

“You and Ten though-” 

“Also have outside influences. I don’t think anyone can be unbiased in this situation.” Johnny stared at Doyoung, who held the eye contact until finally looking away, hands coming together and twisting his ring around his finger. “It’s not a problem. It’s good to have two sides to this.” Johnny let go of Doyoung with a final squeeze. “Let’s go back inside. You and I can balance out Ten and Lucas.” 

Quietly, Doyoung nodded, before following Johnny inside.


	5. Kun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Winwin's new hair color actually looking super cute during the live stage. I was skeptical.
> 
> Anyway, I'm bringing in Kun and Chenle, our unlikely scientist duo this chapter. I really enjoy them, so I hope you do too!

“Hey did you hear. Hey. Hey are you listening to me. Did you hear about those guys.” Chenle punctuated each sentence with a small bounce. 

“Stand still.” Kun said, carefully pouring something into the beaker Chenle held. Chenle squirmed once more where he stood before falling silent and still. After pouring, Kun took the beaker back from Chenle, who immediately burst back into motion. 

“They speak Mandarin apparently!” He said, rushing to follow behind Kun as he walked to a table. “Isn’t that cool? We should say hi!” 

Kun sighed, placing down the beaker. “Chenle, you and Jisung aren’t allowed near them until they’ve been vetted. It’s too much of a rissk.” 

Chenle whined low in his throat, hands threading together. “Jeno and Jaemin already met them.” 

“Jeno and Jaemin are front line fighters.” Kun said absentmindedly, most of his attention focused on mixing the contents of the beaker. “They were there when we found them.” The contents of the beaker shifter color slightly, and Kun cursed, before picking it up and taking it over to the hazardous waste disposal. “Besides, last I heard Johnny was still interrogating them. For all we know right now they’re going to be killed.” 

Chenle gasped, “Oh no!” He turned a short circle where he stood. “That would be bad. Why would we kill them?” 

“They’re enemy gang members.” Kun said, washing his hands. “Clean your hands, Chenle. Gloves only do so much.” 

Chenle peeled his gloves off and stuck his hands under the stream of water. “I heard they weren’t members, not really. I heard we saved them.” 

“We’re a gang.” Kun said, drying his hands off. He smacked Chenle’s hand away when he went to steal Kun’s paper towels from him. Chenle laughed and grabbed his own. “We’re not really suited for saving people.” 

“That can’t be true!” Chenle said. “We can do anything Kun-ge!” He struck a pose, hands on his hips and chest thrust out. Kun laughed at the display, making Chenle drop it, embarrassed and pleased. 

“I’m done with you for today.” Kun said. “Go and find Jisung or something.” Chenle nodded once, smiling, before darting off. Kun watched him leave, before turning back to his work. This was getting a little annoying. He couldn’t figure out what was going wrong, causing the shift in the chemicals. Drugs were serious business, and the smallest changes could prove deadly. Doyoung had passed along the news about Love Scenario to Kun, and hearing about the dead girl, one of only a handful of people who took the drug that night, was worrying. Dead customers were bad for business, everyone’s business, and Kun was trying to come up with something light and new that could take the place of Love Scenario when they shut down its production. 

Inevitably, his thoughts started to wander to the people who brought the news. Renjun and Sicheng. In truth, he would like to meet them. Chinese members of Korean gangs were a minority, and it was always nice to talk to someone new in his native tongue. However, the two had definitely not been members of BigBang, and he wasn’t sure if he had the tact required to talk to two people who had been abused as much as they had. 

I talk to Ten, Kun thought. It can’t be that different. He knew it was though. Ten wore his history with all confidence of a long-healed scar, while Renjun and Sicheng were likely still bleeding. The situation was messy, and while Kun loved a good mess at times, this was not one of them. 

There was a knock on the door. “Come in.” Kun said. The door opened, and Lucas walked in. 

“I’m supposed to fetch you.” He said. “Apparently there’s something weird about the bloodwork Taeil did on Renjun and Sicheng.” 

That sounded bad. “Weird how?” Kun asked. Lucas stared at him blankly for a second, and Kun retracted his question. “Never mind. Let’s just go.” 

The two headed over to the room where the boys had set up camp. Sicheng, upright and more aware, looked up when Lucas and Kun walked in. Renjun turned his gaze to them, settling on Kun and studying the new comer. Kun shifted under the looks, uncomfortable, before finding Johnny standing sentry in the corner. Kun waved a short hello, and Johnny nodded back, before the group lapsed into silence again. Taeil walking back into the room was incredibly relieving “Taeil! What’s going on?” 

“I was hoping you could tell me.” Taeil said, studying some papers as he walked. Johnny followed behind him and closed the door Taeil had left open. “Look at this. I’m not sure what’s going on with these levels.” Kun took the papers from Taeil, reading the highlighted numbers. 

“Were the boys given drugs regularly?” Kun asked Taeil. 

“You can ask us.” Renjun said. Kun jumped, startled and guilty. 

“Sorry yeah. Did you guys take anything?” Kun asked. 

“Yes.” Renjun said. “We had twice daily pills. I don’t know what was in them.” 

“When was the last time you took them?” Kun asked. 

“Last night, before lock in.” Renjun replied. “Is it... are we going to have withdrawal?” 

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Kun said. He looked at Taeil, “I think we should get... uh... the brunet-” 

“Renjun.” Johnny said. 

“-Renjun on a saline drip as well.” Kun continued. “Withdrawal likely won’t kick in until after todays missed dose, but-” 

“Yes we should start flushing their systems now.” Taeil interrupted. “I’ve got it. Is there anything you have that can make this an easier ride?” Renjun’s eyes were wide. He was squeezing Sicheng’s hand tightly. Sicheng took his free arm and used it to bring Renjun’s head in to his chest, pulling the younger boy into a hug. Renjun went willingly, kicking off the slippers someone had found him and climbing onto the cot next to Sicheng. 

“I’m not sure. This isn’t a normal opiate.” Kun said. He turned back to the boys. “Did you usually take a dose in the morning as well?” 

“Yes.” Sicheng said, surprising everyone in the room. His voice was much lower than expected, and rough with disuse. “A big pill, morning and night. Not always...” He stopped, searching for words. “We didn’t always take it. Maybe a year? Before that, we had shots.” He held Renjun closer in his arms, who responded by bringing his own arms up and into his chest, curling into Sicheng. “The pills were worse. They made things feel like more. Made it hard to sleep.” 

“That’s interesting.” Kun said. “It sounds almost more like a stimulant. But it looks like an opiate on the blood work.” Kun shared a glance with Taeil. They were both more worried than they wanted to let on. No need to make the boys panic. Taeil got the supplies ready to fit Renjun with an iv. Renjun uncurled from around Sicheng, but stayed in the cot with him, lying as close to him as possible. The two of them adjusted to fit on the twin bed in a practiced motion. As Taeil began swabbing his arm, Renjun closed his eyes tightly. Sicheng raised a hand and started stroking Renjun’s hair. Taeil was efficient, and the iv was in quickly and without incident. 

“Well, this has been quite the exciting morning for everyone,” Johnny said, “but I think it’s best if we leave our new guests to get some rest.” While they can, Kun filled in in his thoughts. Withdrawal wouldn’t be fun for anyone. And a year of daily dosing? Not good. 

The group filed out, leaving only Lucas and the two boys. Lucas shot the group a large thumbs up as they left, before turning to smile brightly at the brothers. Kun took one last look. Renjun’s eyes were already closed, and Sicheng was dozing as well. 

In the hallway, Johnny looked at Kun and Taeil, and Kun felt himself shifting under the gaze. Today was a day to feel uncomfortable, apparently. “Ok. Care to tell me what’s going on?” Johnny asked. 

“I’m just not sure what kind of drug they’ve been dosed with.” Kun said. “And going cold turkey is the worst way to get off of something.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not entirely sure what withdrawal might look like.” 

“If there is any.” Taeil cut in. “We don’t know the drug. For all we know there isn’t any physical dependency.” 

“Unlikely, but possible.” Kun said. “Taeil, can I get a sample of each of their blood? I’ll run some tests, see if I can figure out what they were being kept on.” 

“No problem.” Taeil said. “I’ll have Haechan take it over.” 

“Thanks.” Kun said, already turning to head back to his lab. He’d probably need Chenle for this after all, and if Jisung was free an extra pair of hands never hurt. It was shaping up to be a very long day.


	6. Lucas, Haechan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok! I think I figured out an update schedule that should work with me. I'll be updating Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Yay!
> 
> Some Lucas POV in this chapter, and then we get a short look at some characters that haven't shown up yet. Everyone will show up! I promise!
> 
> Also if anyone is interested, I'd love to work with a beta reader! I don't really know how it works but it sounds super helpful.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to Regular's second win! Doyoung and Jeno are so cute I died.

Lucas was antsy. Anyone would be after spending a long morning standing in a room, guarding two people who did little more that breathe and talk to each other, lowly. He knew he needed to be prepared for anything. And he was! His trigger finger was always perfectly poised to shoot anything, anywhere, anytime! But, that wasn’t incredibly helpful in this situation. The brothers weren’t exactly threatening. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was supposed to be doing, besides people watching. 

Jaehyun came by twice that morning. Once, when delivering the boys, and the second time a few hours later, just to look in on them. Lucas thought that was interesting. Jaehyun was a relatively straight forward person, and Lucas didn’t think he would be back until it was time to take over for Lucas. Maybe he was making sure Lucas was doing his job. He was! Lucas straightened his shoulders, tossing his hair. 

Yuta hadn’t come back since leaving. Neither had Jeno or Jaemin. It would have been a lot more fun if any of them were there, but Lucas got to stand guard alone. He wondered how Jeno and Jaemin were. They had been pretty crazy earlier after they all got back to base. Taeyong had sent them away immediately. Maybe they were in trouble? Lucas laughed at that thought. In trouble with Taeyong barely meant anything at all. Maybe they had to take over babysitting the drug runners from Jisung. It was no one's favorite job. 

When was Taeyong coming back? He had gotten Renjun talking and then vanished. Lucas hoped he was doing OK. Some of the stuff Renjun had talked about was unsettling. Maybe Taeyong was dealing with it? He probably had already found the distributor, blown them up, and set out distribution for an entire new line of drugs. Taeyong could work a miracle like that. 

Bored. Bored. Bor- Oh knocking. Taeil entered the room, hair a little mussed from his nap, and charts in hand. He went over to the boys, checking the levels of their saline drips and checking temperatures. Sicheng stirred from his nap at this, but relaxed again when he noticed who it was. Renjun on the other hand was dead to the world. He hadn’t really slept at all last night, if you ignore when Jeno had knocked him out. Lucas winced. That had been necessary at the time, but in hindsight it seemed rather harsh. 

Sicheng looked over at Lucas while Taeil checked him. “Hello.” 

“Oh! Hi!” Lucas said, surprised. 

“Who are you?” 

“My name is Yukhei, but you can call me Lucas. Everyone does.” Lucas responded. 

“Ok, Lucas.” Sicheng said. 

A silence fell over the room again, as Taeil finished his checks and left. Sicheng was seemingly content to lie next to his brother, but Lucas felt like he was going a little crazy. He could be having a conversation! Eventually, when he felt like he was about to vibrate out of his skin, Lucas opened his mouth again, only for Sicheng to interrupt him. 

“What do you do?” He asked. 

Lucas stared back at him, before hastening to reply, “Oh I work with NCT. I’m mostly involved in security. But I also deal with a lot of recruitment stuff! I’m very friendly.” He smiled, and Sicheng returned it, albeit a much smaller one. Lucas wasn’t sure how to continue the conversation. He knew what Sicheng did. And what part of his history was safe to ask about? He said a short prayer, and asked “Where are you from.” 

“China.” Sicheng said. “Wenzhou, though we left there when we were young. Our family,” Sicheng trailed off. 

Lucas was quick to interject with “Oh, it’s OK you don’t have to-” 

“No it’s fine.” Sicheng continued, smiling at Lucas. Lucas flushed, embarrassed. “Our family had little money. Our father borrowed from someone he should not have. When he could not pay it back... Well. Here we are.” 

“I think that’s how it was for Ten too,” Lucas said, “Though you would have to ask him specifics. But he’s not from China though! He’s from Thailand. He speaks Thai too and it’s cool because I can speak some Thai but he always makes fun of me for it and now you two speak Mandarin and I’m not very good at that either and-” Lucas cut himself off, staring at Sicheng where he sat, laughing. 

“You talk a lot.” Sicheng said between laughs. 

Lucas wanted the earth to swallow him. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s OK. You are friendly.” Sicheng said. His attention was diverted, however, when Renjun started to stir. He pushed the dark hair back from Renjun’s face and started speaking Mandarin in an undertone. Lucas tried his best not to eavesdrop. Renjun shifted on the bed slightly, before seeming to nod back off again. Sicheng kept stroking his hair. 

Lucas stared. “You really care about him.” 

“Of course.” Sicheng said, not looking at Lucas. “He is my brother.” 

 

Haechan was heading towards Taeyong’s office, but he cut a short diversion, knocking once on Mark’s door before pushing it open. Mark looked up and smiled when he saw who it was, before schooling his expression once again into something more serious and looking back down at his laptop. 

“Mark,” Haechan said, drawing out the r as he waltzed over to the desk, placing himself in between Mark and the screen. If it worked for cats, it would work for him. 

Mark sighed, before pressing his chair back to look up at Haechan. “Yes?” 

Haechan leaned in, dropping his voice dramatically. “Do you want the deets on the castaways?” 

Mark stayed silent. Haechan let him wrestle with it a little bit. He knew Taeyong wanted Mark and the under 20’s kept out of this whole mess as much as possible. As Taeil’s assistant, that was practically impossible for Haechan, and ditto for Chenle with Kun, but Jeno and Jaemin had been banned from the wing housing the brothers, and Jisung had been out all day. Mark was the only other one out of the loop, and Haechan knew it burned him. 

“Yes.” Mark replied finally. 

“Of course you do!” Haechan shouted, directly into Marks ear. He recoiled, glasses falling off his nose, and raised a hand to his ear, glaring at Haechan. Haechan smiled back at him. “Let me tell you all my knowledge, young one.” Haechan ignored Mark’s muttered _older than you_ with a practiced grace. He had so much to tell him.


	7. Taeyong, Jaemin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to Regular 3rd win! I'm so proud of our boys y'all.
> 
>  
> 
> Medical accuracy is not the name of the game, and will continue to not be for several chapters in the future. But enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: 4TH WIN GO TEAM!

“-and tell Yeri that Attaboy distributions are going really well. Kun thinks it’s probably time to start handing down the recipe to some lower level suppliers. Jisung will contact her in the next couple of days to set down some new territory lines. I know. Drug runners are finicky.” Taeyong spoke into his phone, feet raised onto his desk. “It’s fine. Yes of course. Tell Joy that Jungwoo needs to talk to her. No. Of course. Ok. Until next week then. Goodbye Irene.” Putting down the phone, Taeyong leaned forward and placed his face into his hands. What a day. 

Sometime midafternoon, Sicheng had started showing some signs of withdrawal. And then a few hours later, the beginning had hit Renjun as well. Taeil had brought another cot into the room so the two of them could space out more evenly, but Renjun had panicked when Johnny had attempted to move him, and Lucas had had to step in to separate the two. The cots were close enough they could hold hands, and from what Taeil had said they were doing their level best to hold hands while using their free hands to hold buckets. Gross. 

Someone knocked on the door to Taeyong’s office, and Taeyong gave a distracted “come in.” 

It was Yuta, who looked much to relaxed to be near Taeyong right now. “Hey boss. The J twins are pretty wiped, but they keep asking after our guests. I wasn’t sure what to tell them.” Yuta said. Of course they were asking. Taeyong could try, but nothing would keep them out of this mess, especially considering they were there when it started. 

“You officially have my permission to take them on a little field trip to see our new friends.” Taeyong said. Yuta looked surprised, so Taeyong continued. “No one in this building is a child. If the J’s can deal with drugs, prositution, and murder, they can certainly deal with rape.” 

Except, that wasn’t entirely true. And Taeyong knew it. But keeping them away would prove to be impossible soon enough. Anyone with a room in the gangs central base was aware of the situation, so there was really no reason to deny visitation. Except maybe to Jisung. It might be nice to pretend he had control over at least one person here. 

“Cool. We’ll swing by then.” Yuta said. He made towards the door, before stopping himself. “Do you need me to send Ten or Johnny for you?” 

Taeyong shook his head. “I’m fine. Deal with the kids.” 

Yuta grinned. “No problem boss. Catch you later.” And, after a quick bow, he left. 

Taeyong wondered if he was becoming too easy to read. No. Yuta had always had a good handle on Taeyong. It’s one of the things that made him such a great head of security. He always seemed to know if Taeyong was about to go off and do something reckless, and he always managed to show up, geared out and ready, just as Taeyong was leaving. It was good that Yuta could read him so well. His phone rang, and he picked it up. “Hello? Suho, what’s up?” 

 

Jaemin could not walk fast enough. Jeno and Yuta needed to hurry up because he had been waiting practically an eternity to check in on the brothers. Renjun and Sicheng. Interesting names. Turning the corner, he saw the door to the infirmary and jogged the last few feet. He knocked once sharply, before pushing the door open. 

The room was mostly the same as when they had left it early this morning, though there were now two cots in front of the curtain instead of one, and it smelled faintly of vomit. That was explained when Renjun pitched over in his bed, puking into the bucket he held in his hands. Sicheng looked woozy, but slightly more stable, holding his own bucket. Taeil and Haechan were puttering around the room, adjusting drips and checking vitals. Lucas, on the tail end of what must have been the world’s longest guard shift, was sitting in the corner of the room, head on his own shoulder, dozing. Ten, suprisingly, was present as well, and he sat in a chair next to Renjun, one hand laying on the boys back as he choked and spat. 

“Oh gross.” Yuta said, peaking in around Jaemin. “The room looks crowded enough. Mind if I bail? Don’t stay too long boys.” All of this was said quickly before Yuta ducked out and away, leaving Jeno and Jaemin standing dazed in the doorway. 

“Well don’t just stand there.” Ten said, impatiently. “Come in.” 

Jaemin walked forward, aware of Jeno following close behind him. Renjun looked up at the two with mild interest, before his attention was diverted yet again. He was so tiny, how could he possible puke so much. He watched as Renjun spat a final time before collapsing back against the pillows behind him. Ten pushed his hair back from his forehead, before taking the bucket and handing it off to Haechan, who made a face before taking it out of the room. Taeil brought over a new one just in case, but Jaemin thought Renjun looked pretty finished for now, lying pale in the bed. Jaemin couldn’t stop staring. 

“Did you need something?” Ten asked, looking up at Jaemin where he hovered. Jaemin had no idea how to answer that. What did he need? Closure? Knowledge that the boys in the room were still alive? He couldn’t seem to settle on a single thought. 

“I forgive you.” Renjun said, voice low and rough. Ten looked at him, surprised. “For grabbing me. And choking me.” Jaemin winced, and felt Jeno do the same next to him. 

“That’s very big of you.” Ten said. “Anything to add boys?” 

“We’re sorry for scaring you.” Jeno said. 

“You didn’t scare me!” Renjun interjected. 

“Then,” Jeno tried again, more carefully this time, “We’re sorry for taking you by surprise. And for hurting you.” 

“Good.” Renjun said, turning in his bed to put his back to Jeno and Jaemin. 

“Thank you.” Sicheng said. “For finding us. And for bringing us here.” All eyes in the room turned to him, but he was seemingly unaware of the looks he was getting from Renjun in particular. 

“I... you’re welcome?” Jaemin said, taken aback. Sicheng nodded, so Jaemin supposed he had guessed a correct response. 

“Well this was all very touching.” Taeil said, cutting through the lingering tension. “Renjun, Sicheng, do you think you can eat something for me?” Renjun didn’t lift his head from the pillows, but he muttered something that sounded like no. Sicheng shook his head, pulling his bucket into his chest. Taeil made a disapproving noise before bringing over bowls of something off white anyway, setting them on the cots next to the brothers. 

It may have been a mistake to come and visit. Jaemin felt like an intruder in this room, filled with the soft sounds of Taeil steps, and Ten trying to convince Sicheng and Renjun to try and eat. He had felt like he needed to see them both, and see them _soon_ , but now? He wasn’t sure. He couldn’t really help either of them, not the way Taeil, or Ten, or even Lucas with his larger than life personality could. He turned to leave. 

“Wait.” Renjun said. Jaemin stopped, surprised, and turned to look at him. “What’s your names?” 

“I’m Jaemin.” Jaemin said. “And this is Jeno.” 

“We’re really glad you’re here.” Jeno added softly. Renjun looked at them, then at his brother, before looking back at them again and nodding. When Ten asked him again, he picked up his bowl and started eating.


	8. Jungwoo, Renjun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot to be happy for over the weekend, so happy late Winwin day, Yuta day, fourth win, NCT Dream performing We Go Up again, and Jaemin's dramatic ass falling into Mark's arms at the end of their stage. 
> 
> Have something miserable to balance it all out :D

“I’m telling you Jungwoo, they’re both so tiny.” Lucas said, spinning in his chair. Jungwoo watched him, feeling fond. “Like, the shorter one? When I carried him over my shoulder, he probably weighed two pounds. And earlier? He wouldn’t let Johnny move him away from his brother, so I had to move him to a new bed, and he weighed even less!” Lucas stopped spinning, looking Jungwoo dead on. “If they get any smaller, they’ll disappear.” 

Privately, Jungwoo thought it must be a trafficking thing. Ten was small as well. Probably a lack of nutrition, and the stress on a young body. Jungwoo had a few girls that had started working too young, and they were all small. Of course, all his employees now had as little stress about their jobs as he could give them, and all of them were done growing. “How old did you say they were again?” 

“Oh, they haven’t actually said yet.” Lucas said. “They look pretty young, but that could be the size. Probably late teens/early twenties?” Jungwoo wondered when they had gotten their start in this field. 

Jungwoo himself had started turning tricks in his mid-teens, before stepping on the toes and territory of some girls who worked for powerful pimps. He had to stop for a while, before lack of interest in any other job led him back to it. This time, he was luckier, and the territory he infringed on belonged to a fledgling NCT, who picked him up. Now, he oversaw the various prostitutes in the region, and protection was given by him and NCT. No pimps allowed. 

“Lucas.” Jungwoo said. “Every time I sold myself, I’ve done so willingly. I can’t really help you understand this situation.” 

“But Jungwoo,” Lucas whined, “who else can I talk to? I’m so stressed right now my hair is turning grey as we speak.” 

“You’re so vain.” Jungwoo said, trying and failing to keep the fondness out of his voice. “What do you want me to tell you?” 

“How do I make them like me?” Lucas asked, standing up and walking over. He stopped next to Jungwoo and pushed him, playfully. “I want them to know I’m friendly!” 

“You’re tall, and every time they’ve met you so far you’ve had to manhandle them.” Jungwoo said. “They aren’t going to trust you or anyone around you anytime soon.” Lucas looked incredibly dejected at that, and Jungwoo felt a bit guilty for killing his optimism. “Look, it’s been less than 24 hours since we found them. They’re both probably waiting for the other foot to drop, and for someone to tell them to do something... unpleasant. Just wait a while.” 

“Waiting is the worst.” Lucas said. 

“Do you want a job?” Jungwoo asked. “I can send you over to Joy. She’s a little short on hands right now.” 

“No, Taeyong wants me and the rest of the strike team here in case ‘anything happens.’” Lucas quoted. Jungwoo wasn’t entirely sure what Lucas would be able to do if either of the two boys put up a fuss. He got attached very easily. But Taeyong was generally right about nearly everything, so Jungwoo supposed he was right about keeping Lucas around base as well. 

“When do you have to go back?” Jungwoo asked. 

“Tomorrow!” Lucas said, “Jeno is on shift now, and Jaehyun is watching them tonight. You have no idea how excited I am to sleep.” 

“Well then. Get to it.” Jungwoo said, smiling over at him. Lucas smiled back, pumped a fist in the air, and left the room. 

 

Renjun had never been this sick. The sandwiches he had shoved down this morning, the oatmeal he had eaten later, and all the water in the world had made a reappearance in his rotating array of buckets, provided by someone who must have been right around the same age as Renjun. He was wearing scrubs of some kind, which weren’t very flattering, so Renjun wasn’t entirely sure what his role here was besides bucket fetcher. This seemed a little unfair, as Renjun had had to deal with people being hungover before and suck them off when they asked. This other boy was doing half a job. 

Not that Renjun wanted him to touch him of course. There were unspoken rules involved in being entertainment, and one of them was, unless you were told to by the higher ups, you didn’t touch other entertainment in a sexual way. This was both because the Sirs and Madams didn’t like it, and because of some form of solidarity. When you were hurt in one way, inflicting that hurt on someone else was a deep betrayal. 

Ten had said that NCT didn’t keep people the way Big Bang had, but Renjun was not convinced. Ten himself was likely in charge of all the other entertainment, having ascended to that position probably through the favor of Johnny. This boy with buckets was another prime example. He was pretty enough, Renjun supposed, though Big Bang had valued slimness above all else and the boy looked as though he ate regularly. Again, doing half a job. Extremely unfair. 

Renjun glanced over at the boy sitting in the corner, the one who had choked him. Not an entertainment, definitely not, but not cannon fodder either. And here he was sitting in a room in the central base. Maybe the son of someone high up? 

His stomach hurt, and he was sweating, and his mouth tasted vile, and Sicheng was sick and hurting and he couldn’t do anything about it. Renjun didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what he could do. Nausea swept over him again and he pitched forward, coughing out stomach acid and nothing else. Ten held his fringe back from his face, and it felt really nice. Renjun, childishly, wished it was Sicheng holding his hair. But Sicheng had enough to deal with and Renjun refused to make him deal with more. 

“Haechan, this drip is getting low. Change it for me?” Taeil asked the boy with the bucket, or Haechan he supposed. Haechan brought over a new bag to switch out with the one hanging above Renjun. Renjun had no idea what was in it, but it was generally better not to ask. 

Haechan switched out the bags efficiently. Maybe he was training under Taeil? They were dressed a like. But he was a little young for that, wasn’t he? Maybe he belonged just to Taeil, and the outfits were how they showed that. Taeil must have been incredibly high up to have a private entertainment though, and here he was checking temperatures and taking blood. None of this made any sort of sense to Renjun, who felt very ill and would rather just go back to sleep at this point, instead of guessing who was doing what. 

He needed to understand the power dynamics though. Not knowing the hierarchy of a place was the best way to get the jobs no one wanted. And if Renjun messed up, Sicheng was always there to volunteer to take on punishments for him, using his pull with G-Dragon to deal with Renjun’s mistakes. Renjun hated that, hated that Sicheng always had to smile when G-Dragon had snaked an arm around his waist. There was no G-Dragon here though, and while Renjun was happy about that, he also worried. Sicheng couldn’t get him out of trouble. Renjun had to take care of him for once. 

A short nap couldn’t hurt that much, though, could it? His eyes were awfully heavy. Lots of things were easier unconscious. Maybe understanding the way things worked around here would be one of them.


	9. Taeil, Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some TW this chapter, so if you're worried head down to the end notes. Enjoy!

“You seem very young to be a doctor.” Sicheng said. His eyes were a cool weight on Taeil, and Taeil flushed lightly. 

“I took my oaths when I was 20.” Taeil said. “NCT was a new idea in Taeyong’s head, and I had been training for a while. I was ready.” 

“Oaths?” 

“The Hippocratic Oath of course, and then the Oath of Neutrality.” Taeil said. “It’s an SM thing.” 

SIcheng smiled, and Taeil wanted to die. Or pinch his cheeks. He wasn’t sure which. “Does SM have a lot of ‘things’?” 

“Nothing that I can tell you, unfortunately. Not-” Taeil stammered out, “not that I don’t trust you! But it’s inner circle secrets. Haechan doesn’t even know a lot of it.” 

Sicheng laughed, before his laugh turned into a cough. Taeil frowned, rubbing firm circles onto his back. Renjun wasn’t coughing like Sicheng was. He hoped it wasn’t a complication of whatever earlier illness Sicheng had. The coughing fit subsided, but Sicheng looked worn down by it. Taeil turned to grab him water, and found Renjun staring daggers into his back. He raised his hands slowly in a surrendering gesture, before crossing the room to grab the glass for Sicheng. Sicheng nodded his thanks when Taeil brought it over and sipped at it. 

“I’m sorry about this.” Sicheng said, gesturing down at himself. “I promise both of us will be healthy soon.” 

“Don’t worry about it. This is my job.” 

SIcheng handed Taeil back the glass, before lying back on the stacked pillows. Hopefully staying slightly propped up would help him with the congestion. “How long have we been here?” 

Taeil check his watch. “About 36 hours. It’s 2 o’clock.” 

Sicheng stared blankly at the ceiling. “36 hours.” 

“It’s 2?” Renjun asked. “That’s so late.” 

“Is there anything you need, doctor?” Sicheng said. “I hate being useless.” 

“I said don’t worry about it.” Taeil said. “2 o’clock is a fine time to be lying in bed.” 

Speaking of that, “Haechan, I have to head to Kun’s lab.” 

Haechan had been incredibly busy making faces at Renjun, but he jumped to attention quickly. “Right. I’ve got it.” 

“Will you be back?” Sicheng asked. Taeil nodded, and Sicheng seemed content with that, so he turned to leave the room, trusting Haechan to contact him if anything crazy happened. Taeil hoped Kun had had some luck in figuring out what the boys were being dosed with, but hopefully this was as bad as withdrawal would get. 

He knocked on the door, which swung open quickly, surprising him. 

“Oops!” Chenle said, standing in the doorway. “Sorry Taeil. Didn’t mean to scare you. Come in!” 

Chenle turned and led the way into the lab, and Taeil followed behind him, albeit at a more sedate pace. Keeping up with Chenle could be difficult. 

“Oh Taeil, good.” Kun said. “Come look.” 

Taeil went to Kun, looking at the papers he had scattered on the table in front of him. “Is that-” 

“The makeup of the drug? Why yes it is.” Kun said, smug. 

“Kun-ge’s a genius.” Chenle said, leaning on Kun’s shoulders. “It took forever, but we managed to isolate traces of the drug in the blood samples.” 

“So what exactly does it do then?” Taeil asked. 

“That, unfortunately, is a little unsure.” Kun said, losing his bravado. “It has similarities to Heroin, but also similarities to some short acting opiates. And then look here.” He said, picking up a paper and bringing it between him and Taeil. “I don’t recognize this at all. This may be responsible for the heightened sensitivity to touch that Sicheng mentioned, but really I’m just guessing. That combined with a downer to keep them docile, and an upper to keep them alert.” 

“That’s a dangerous combination.” Taeil said, worried. “How are they mixing downers and uppers without-” 

“Without immediate overdose, yes.” Kun finished, eyes flashing. “I’m guessing this is something they have been cooking up in the lab for a while. Let’s hope Sicheng and Renjun weren’t the first test subjects. How have they been so far?” 

Taeil grimaced. “Not terribly, but it isn’t pleasant either. They’re both being drip fed, since everything that goes down immediately goes up. But what surprises me is that neither of them seems to be having any cravings.” 

“Weird!” Chenle said. “Shouldn’t that have kicked in already?” 

“Maybe there isn’t any mental dependency?” Kun guessed. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this before, so this whole withdrawal process will be one big guessing game. Oh! Have you been-” 

“Taking detailed notes for you?” Taeil said, deadpan. “Yes.” Kun had the grace to look sheepish. Taeil didn’t fault him his interest. 

“I’m sorry. This is just potentially helpful for future developments.” Kun said. “Chenle, go find Johnny and give him an update on what we’ve found. And then take a nap. You’ve been awake for too long.” Chenle whined, before relenting and turning to leave. 

Taeil looked watched him leave. “I swear it’s like he doesn’t age.” 

“I know!” Kun said, pushing away from the table. “He’s worked with me for four years now and only gets more energetic.” 

“Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?” Taeil said. “I think I’m going to go check on Haechan, and maybe send him off to get some sleep as well.” 

“How did we end up as single father gang members?” Kun joked. Taeil scoffed and sat down heavily in a chair. He’d been awake for too long. “Grumpy.” 

“Tired.” Taeil corrected. “Not all of us can run on the ‘joy of discovery’, or whatever it is that keeps you going.” Kun smiled, broad and aggressive. All of the Chinese members of this gang were insane, Taeil thought. What did they feed their children over there? 

Inevitably, of course, that brought his thoughts back around to their Chinese guests. He really should get back. He trusted Haechan with his life, but Taeil hadn’t missed the snide looks he’d been sharing with Renjun recently. If the two of them started fighting, Lucas would panic, and the world would end. He stood up slowly out of the chair, stretching his arms up and enjoying his last moments of freedom. Kun watched him, before jabbing him hard in his stomach and rushing out of range. Taeil curled hard over his middle and hissed. Fuck that hurt. Kun laughed at him, and Taeil flicked him off before heading out of the lab and back towards the infirmary. 

 

Mark stood in the doorway, frozen and unsure what to do. 

“Now’s not a great time.” Haechan said. He was next to one of the boys, holding their head down and between their knees where they sat, crouched, on a hospital cot. The boy’s arms were over their head, and their iv injection site wasvcrooked and bleeding sluggishly. Haechan was talking lowly into the boy’s ear while he hyperventilated, but it didn’t seem to be calming him down at all. The other boy, Mark thought he was maybe the older one, was lying in another cot and being fussed over by Taeil, who was holding some kind of mask over his mouth. 

“I-” Mark started, cutting himself off. He shook his head, hoping to reset his thoughts. “Do you need me to get anyone?” 

“Get over here.” Taeil said sharply. Mark rushed to respond. “Go take over for Haechan. I need his hands to get a breathing tube in Sicheng, but Renjun is doing his best to work himself into a heart attack.” 

Mark had very little faith in his ability to be helpful, but he did as was told, moving over to Haechan and Renjun. 

“Keep his head between his knees. He’s having a panic attack.” Haechan said, immediately leaving Mark alone with Renjun. Mark could see him out of the corner of his eye doing something with a tube, but his attention was diverted back to Renjun when he began to choke. 

Mark brought one hand up to Renjun’s back, the other grabbing the bucket on the floor below and bringing it up to the cots level. Renjun reached for it desperately, grabbing it out of Marks hands before coughing up something yellow and foul. Mark wrinkled his nose, but was distracted when Renjun began hyperventilating. 

“Hey, hey.” Mark said, bringing a hand up to Renjun’s head and gently pressing it forward. Renjun followed the pressure, his entire body shaking with his sobbing. “I’ve got you. You’re ok.” 

Mark glanced up, looking over at where Sicheng lay in his cot. Taeil had been fast, and there was a thin tube running into his nose. Haechan was adjusting something on the machine the breathing tube was hooked up to, while Taeil was laying down more tape on the Sichengs iv site. Mark could feel Renjun’s rabbit fast heart beat under his hands. 

“Your brother is fine.” Mark tried again. Renjun started, making to turn towards Sicheng, but Mark kept pressure on his head and he relaxed again, staying where Mark held him. Mark used his free hand to run circles across his back, before pausing to grab the discarded bucket and place it on the floor. 

Taeil stepped back from Sicheng, and Haechan did as well, turning to look over at Renjun. He walked over and grabbed Renjun’s arm, but Renjun panicked under the new attention and pulled it away. Mark frowned. 

“None of that.” He chided, in what he hoped was a gentle tone. “You’re bleeding. We need to make sure you’re OK.” 

Haechan reached out for his arm again, and this time Renjun let him take it. “This will need to come out and be reinserted.” 

Mark wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but he hadn’t been directly told to do anything, so he waited. 

“Are you ready Renjun?” Taeil asked, grabbing a new catheter from a cabinet. Mark could feel Renjun nod. “... you can let him up Mark.” Mark let go, stepping back as if burned. Renjun stayed put for a minute before slowly lifting his head. His face was red with exertion, and dried tears cut tracks down his cheeks. 

Haechan removed tape and took out the old catheter, moving to dispose of it while Taeil put in a new one. The sound of the ventilator seemed incredibly loud in the small space. 

“Sorry.” Renjun said, after the new iv had been put in. 

“Sorry?” Taeil asked. “Why?” 

“I broke your needle.” Renjun said, looking at his arm. He sniffed, once, and Mark worried he would start crying again. But he didn’t, instead gathering his knees into his chest and wrapping his free arm loosely around them. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Haechan said. Renjun looked up at him and the two held eye contact for a minute. 

“I don’t... what do you do here?” Renjun finally asked. Haechan frowned, and gestured around the room, pausing on the iv drip and the ventilator. “No I mean what else?” 

Haechan stared at him. “Nothing,” he said carefully. “I don’t have to do anything else.” 

Renjun broke eye contact. “Sorry, I just-” 

“Again.” Haechan interrupted. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Mark was lost, but that wasn’t incredibly uncommon where Haechan was involved, so he let it slide. “Where’s Lucas?” 

“Lucas had just left right before Sicheng stopped breathing.” Haechan said. “Jaehyun should be in soon.” 

“Sicheng is stable now, and I need a nap. Do you remember Jaehyun, Renjun?” At Renjun’s head shake, he added “He was here last night, and he was there when you two were found. He’ll be in to watch you soon. He won’t give you any trouble. Haechan, as soon as Jaehyun gets here you are in your bed for at least 6 hours.” 

Haechan nodded. Taeil turned and left the room, his steps dragging. Haechan focused back in on Renjun, and the two had another moment of silent staring, before Haechan made a face. Renjun snorted, before lying back against his pillows, eyes closed. Mark wondered again how old he was. 

“Well Mark, you and me can hang out until Jaehyun shows up.” Haechan said. “Take a seat. He’s always late.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Panic attack. And the usual for this fic of course. The panic attack is new. It's not from the perspective of the one having it though, so it isn't very intense.
> 
> Sorry y'all.
> 
> It's all good though, yeah? Happy Halloween btw! Check the SMTOWNWONDERLAND tag on twitter to fill your heart with joy. Even though Jaemin didn't go as Prince Bubblegum which is a damn tragedy.


	10. Johnny, Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think everyone has now officially shown up? So yay! I did mess around with ages a little bit, and while it's not super relevant I thought I would share. So here is the age chart:
> 
> Taeil - 28  
> Taeyong, Yuta, Johnny - 27  
> Kun, Doyoung Ten- 26  
> Jaehyun, -25  
> Jung woo - 24  
> Lucas, Sicheng - 23  
> Mark - 22  
> Jeno, Jaemin - 20  
> Haechan, Renjun - 19  
> Chenle - 18  
> Jisung - 17
> 
>  
> 
> Hope this helps if anyone is curious!

“Are you sure you’re up for this Jisung?” Taeyong asked. 

“Yes, boss.” 

“Repeat it back to me then.” 

Jisung leaned back in his chair. “Let all my lieutenants know to report to me immediately if they hear about any new drugs hitting the scene, talk to Yeri about the possibility of some spread over, and discourage anyone who is trying to sell... Uh... what was it again?” 

“’Love Scenario’, no nickname yet.” 

“Yeah that.” Jisung chewed absently on the gum in his mouth. “Was there anything else you needed, boss? I’m wiped.” 

“No, you’re free to go.” Taeyong said, rolling his eyes as Jisung stood, bowed, and left the room. As soon as the door closed, Johnny let out of a burst of laughter from his place in the corner. “What a brat.” 

“Jisung is just willful.” Johnny said, walking around to sit in the chair Jisung had abandoned. “He doesn’t listen to Mark any better.” 

Taeyong brought his hands to his face, sighing. Johnny laughed again and kicked his feet up onto the desk. Jisung was incredibly good at his job, keeping in contact with all the drug runners and leading the charge on distribution, but he was also a little monster. Johnny had some sympathy for Taeyong trying to reign him in. Usually, he just dumped Jisung onto Mark’s plate and called it ‘training’. 

Mark wasn’t stupid though, and the betrayal on his face when Taeyong had first told him Jisung reported to him now was beautiful. Johnny loved his job. 

“How goes the beach house search?” Taeyong asked. 

“Yuta hasn’t sent any new reports.” Johnny answered. “Him and the J’s have been out all day today, looking. They should be back soon though to check in. It’s getting late.” 

“When they do return, have Yuta report to me, and send the J’s to relieve Jaehyun of babysitting duty.” Taeyong said. “Taeil and Haechan are still out for the count, and I want Taeil to catch a few more hours before he has to go back on shift. Haechan is sleeping the whole night tonight, same with Chenle.” Johnny nodded. “Do we know if Kun needs any help?” 

“Last I saw, Ten and Doyoung were both in there with him.” 

“Oh god.” Taeyong said. “Is my base still standing?” 

Johnny snorted, nearly losing his balance from where he had been progressively tipping his chair backward. “They’re fine.” He said, righting himself. “They don’t fight that much.” 

“Lies and slander.” Taeyong said. “All those three do is fight.” 

“Yeah, but they’re all damn good at their jobs too. It’ll be fine.” 

“If Doyoung kills Ten, you get to find a replacement.” Taeyong said, grabbing a glass of water from his desk. 

“Nah,” Johnny said, “If Doyoung kills Ten we’ll just dump all the casino’s on Mark.” 

It was Taeyong’s turn to snort, choking on the water he had just drank. Johnny sat patiently watching him cough and wheeze. 

“Get out.” Taeyong said, once he regained his breath. “And find me Lucas while you’re at it.” 

Johnny grinned, before bowing and taking his leave. 

 

Ten yawned, wide, before stretching front and back. He put his hands on one of his hips and pressed, twisting his body and making his back let out a long series of cracks. Doyoung shot him a nasty look. 

“That’s disgusting.” 

“You’re disgusting.” Ten shot back. 

“Children please!” Kun said, stepping in between the two, and ignoring Doyoung’s _literally the same age_ comment. 

“It’s late.” Doyoung said. “I think we should turn in for the night. Productivity drops dramatically after-” 

“Hush now.” Ten interrupted. “Kun will tell us when we can stop.” 

“Doyoung is actually right,” Kun said. Doyoung lifted a fist into the air victoriously, and Ten gave Kun a mutinous look. “I’ve been up since yesterday morning, and as much as I appreciate your help, I’m going to need Chenle moving forward.” 

Chenle, of course, was asleep right now, and had been since 2pm. Ten hours later and he was still out like a light. Ten was starting to suspect Kun had slipped him something after keeping him up for 30 hours so that he would actually sleep. 

“Wonderful.” Doyoung said, turning to leave. “Unless the base is on fire, don’t bother me until at least 6.” Ten ran over to catch up with him, throwing himself onto Doyoung’s back. Doyoung stumbled, tried to hike Ten up higher onto his back, and eventually tripped, falling and dumping Ten onto the ground as well. Ten burst into laughter, as Doyoung lay, dazed on his back. “...Fuck.” 

Kun stepped over the two of them neatly, tugging open the door and leaving. Ten pushed himself into a sitting position, saw Doyoung’s face, and fell back again, laughing. Doyoung tried to gather himself before giving up. He pressed a hand to his face and started, helplessly, laughing. Ten rolled onto his stomach, propping himself up to grin at Doyoung. “Better.” Ten said. 

“I’m tired.” Doyoung said, pushing onto his feet and offering Ten a hand, before yanking him up as well. “Are you headed to the rooms?” 

“Nah.” Ten said. “I actually slept last night. I’m gonna check in on the brothers.” 

Doyoung shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned and left, leaving the door to the lab open. Ten walked out, closing the door behind himself, before turning and walking the opposite direction of Doyoung, towards the infirmary. It had been over 24 hours since he had last checked in with the brothers, and Ten knew Renjun was still taking everything he said with a grain of salt. 

He didn’t blame him. Ten certainly wouldn’t have believed anything anyone said to him had something like this happened. It was hard to think someone could actually come and just take you out of that situation. Ten himself hadn’t been rescued, if you could call this a rescue, rather he had managed to escape, following rumors and finding his way to NCT’s doorstep, barefoot and desperate. 

Old history. He’d been with NCT nearly six years. There wasn’t any point dwelling on the past. It was hard though, with Renjun and Sicheng here. Just being near them made Ten think about things he’d rather not think about. He scratched absentmindedly at his tattoo. The brand underneath itched. 

He knocked on the door to the infirmary, more a formality than anything else, before opening the door. Jaehyun was sitting in the corner of the room, staring out over the two cots. Sicheng had a ventilator tube in his nose, and the machines noise was the only thing you could hear. Renjun was dead to the world on the next cot, clutching an extra pillow to his chest. Cute. Ten wondered where he had gotten that, and turned to look questioningly at Jaehyun, who shot him a sheepish look. Also cute. 

Ten walked over to Sicheng, pulling the blanket up slightly around him where it had fallen down. He stared down at him. Sicheng was older than Ten was when he had escaped. He wondered how long they had been with YG. He wondered how long it would take them to feel like humans again. 

Ten stepped back, before turning and wandering over to Renjun as well. It was weird seeing him still. Renjun was full of life usually, and so very angry. The two of them were an odd pair, Sicheng quiet and Renjun the tiny protector, though Ten knew it was a two way street. Being taken together must have been a comfort in some ways, and a nightmare in others. Ten was an only child, but he had people now he considered family. Seeing them raped in front of him... well. What’s done is done he supposed. 

Ten nodded to Jaehyun on his way out, who returned the nod, settling into his chair. It was late, and Ten was going to sleep.


	11. Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More plot!
> 
> Dedicated to Doyoung's sick new undercut. I'm obsessed he looks beautiful.
> 
> Also I promise Mark does not only exist to be around when shit goes down. He is just v convenient.

It was 2 in the morning, and Mark was sitting in the entry room of the base, reading. Taeyong had sent him to bed hours ago, and he had slept for a while, but there was only so much time he could spend in bed with all the excitement recently. He hoped Haechan and Chenle, at least, were getting some sleep. He flicked through the pages of the book. He’d read it a million times before, and was looking for a specific scene, when the front doors burst open, admitting Yuta with Jeno following close behind him, Jaemin slung over one of his shoulders. Mark shut upright, shocked. “What?” 

Taeil appeared in the entrance to the hallway, Haechan following behind him with a gurney. “Here, Jeno.” 

Jeno placed Jaemin down gently onto the gurney, and then helped Haechan push it back and down the hallway, Taeil and Yuta catching up to them, talking quickly and frantically as they all disappeared from sight. 

Mark blinked, before setting his book down and running after everyone. He caught up with the gurney right before it was pushed into the infirmary. Mark followed the gurney in, keeping his distance so he didn’t get in the way. The sudden entrance had woken Renjun and Sicheng. Sicheng was off the breathing tube, but he had a cannula in his nose, an uncomfortable reminder of the previous day. Mark stayed close the gurney as it pushed past them further into the infirmary, until Haechan turned and put a hand on his and Yuta’s chests. 

“Stay.” He said, before pulling a curtain closed around the gurney, Taeil, and Jeno. 

Mark looked over at Yuta, who looked shell shocked. “What happened?” 

Yuta stared forward, before his expression shifted from shock to anger. He turned back towards Renjun and Sicheng, who were watching him, and stalked towards them. “You!” 

Jaehyun shot up from his chair and intercepted Yuta before he could get too close, but Yuta wasn’t having it, and pushed back against him. He managed to shove Jaehyun off and reach Renjun, who was frozen. Mark swore, stepping forward to grab Yuta who had grabbed one of Renjun’s wrists in his hands. Mark tore his hands off Renjun, and Jaehyun managed to pull him away and out of the infirmary entirely. 

Mark looked at Renjun, whose was cradling his wrist into his chest, eyes wide, and swore again before turning sharply to follow Yuta and Jaehyun out. 

“-clearly a trap!” Yuta was saying. Mark had to go around Jaehyun to get out, as he had positioned himself in front of the door, though Yuta now looked more likely to pace than try to get at either of the boys. 

“So did you find the beach house then?” Mark asked. Yuta turned to look at him, incredulous. 

“Yeah, we found it all right. And then spent a couple of hours getting shot at!” Yuta said, throwing his hands in the air. “Jaemin took a bullet in his shoulder while we were getting away. I called Johnny while Jeno was driving us back, and he woke Taeil and Haechan. I swear to God if Jaemin is not OK-” 

“Taeil is good at what he does.” Jaehyun interrupted. “Jaemin will be fine. You need to breathe.” 

“Breathe, he says.” Yuta said. “As if the fuckers who set us up weren’t sitting right behind those doors!” 

Mark was shocked. He honestly hadn’t thought about the fact that they were only looking for a house on Renjun’s tip. “Surely you don’t think-” 

“I absolutely do think.” Yuta said, furious. “You weren’t there Mark. Dozens of low-level thugs crammed into the house, just waiting for us to arrive.” 

Jaehyun remained solid in front of the door. “After Jaemin gets out of surgery, we’ll all sit down with Renjun and Sicheng and the boss and talk. But as of right now, we have no evidence either of them did anything wrong.” 

Yuta let out a strangled noise, turning to slam his hands against the wall behind him. Mark had never seen him like this before. He didn’t know what to think. Yuta was smart, and Mark trusted him, had trained under him for a while before taking up his current post. Could they have...? No. That was crazy. Mark had seen Renjun and Sicheng, had counted the dark marks on their bodies. They wouldn’t have helped Big Bang set them up. 

Mark looked at Jaehyun, who gave him a nod, before heading back inside the infirmary. Renjun and Sicheng both started when he opened the door, curling in on themselves as much as they could. The room smelled of fresh vomit again, and Renjun had a bucket held tight to his chest. 

“Are you OK?” Mark asked, and then immediately felt stupid about it. 

Renjun and Sicheng shared a glance, before Sicheng opened his mouth. He tried to say something, but he triggered a coughing fit instead. Renjun’s expression turned concerned. Sicheng waved a hand in the air. 

“I’m fine. Is Sicheng?” Renjun asked. 

“I think so?” 

Sicheng lifted a hand in the air and gave a thumbs up. Renjun slumped back onto his bed. “What’s happening?” 

“We’ll talk about it in the morning I think.” Mark said. “Just... try and go back to sleep, yeah?” 

The room was filled with the sounds of Taeil barking orders at Haechan. Everyone flinched when Jaemin let out a scream. Sicheng levelled an unimpressed look at Mark, before determinedly closing his eyes. Well that was something at least. 

Mark felt shitty that Sicheng and Renjun had to sit and listen to whatever was happening behind the curtain, so the least he could do was sit with them as well. What a shitty night. 

The door opened again, admitting, surprisingly, Lucas. Mark didn’t even know he was on shift right now, but he guessed someone had woken him as well. Everyone seemed to be prepared for this except Mark. Another surprise was Renjun and Sicheng’s complete lack of negative response to him. They both opened their eyes, saw who was here, and closed them again, almost in unison. Lucas really was like a giant dog, making friend with all the strays in the area. 

“Mark,” Lucas said, “Taeyong needs you.” Mark winced. How did Taeyong even know he was awake right now? Scratch that. Of course Taeyong knew. 

“Ok.” Mark said. “Does Jaehyun have a handle on Yuta?” 

“Oh yeah.” Lucas said. “They’re fine. Well.” He paused, considering. “Yuta does look pretty angry still, but Taeyong said to hold so he will.” That was good. Yuta was loyal, and he wouldn’t go against something Taeyong said for nearly anything in the world. 

Mark bowed to Lucas, who laughed and bowed back, before turning his grin on the brothers, both of whom were valiantly faking sleep. Mark left the room, passing Jaehyun and Yuta in the hallway. Yuta did still look angry, but that was understandable. Jaehyun was kneeling next to him where he sat on the stairs, talking quietly. Mark snuck past them to head up the stair case. 

He knocked on the door to Taeyong’s office, before heading inside. Taeyong sat behind his desk, with Johnny standing off of his right shoulder. This was feeling incredibly formal to Mark, who bowed low before standing rigid in front of the desk, trying not to squirm under Taeyong’s gaze. 

“Relax, Mark.” Taeyong said. “Sit.” 

Mark did, sinking into the chair. 

“I just want to know how things are, from an unbiased perspective.” Oh. That made sense. 

“Yuta came in with Jeno and Jaemin. Jaemin had been shot in the shoulder, and is in surgery currently. Yuta believes they were set up by Renjun, and he made an aggressive move towards him before Jaehyun pulled him away.” Mark summed up, being as straight forward as he could be. 

Taeyong looked at Johnny for a minute, before turning back to Mark. “How aggressive? Will Renjun still talk with us?” 

“I think so.” Mark said. Renjun didn’t seem like he was shutting down from one grab. 

“Thank you Mark.” Taeyong said. “Now go to bed. I’ll call for you when it’s time to talk. This will be good for you to observe.” 

Mark stood, bowed, and left as quickly as possible. He wasn’t sure if he was excited to observe this conversation or not. He really hoped Renjun hadn’t set them up, for his own sake. Taeyong would likely not take that very well. He headed up the stairs again to the bedrooms. Sleeping probably wouldn’t happen, but at least he could hide for a little bit.


	12. Jeno, All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter is dedicated to Ten's dogs. At least I think they're his/his family's. I love them.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! As always let me know what you think!

Jeno watched Jaemin sleeping from his spot in a chair next to him. The bullet had lodged itself into Jaemin’s left shoulder, and i’s location was impeding normal movement of the arm, so it had to be taken out. Taeil and Haechan had done good work, and they were in and out of his arm in about 45 minutes. It had felt much longer. 

The fight had been a surprise. It wasn’t an ambush, exactly, but there were quite a few people with guns inside the house, and they had come pouring out in waves. When Jaemin had gotten hit, Jeno thought his heart stopped. Jaemin had stayed on his feet and maintaining pressure on the wound until they got to the car, so Jeno had thought it was fine, but as soon as he hit the seats, he had passed out. Jeno didn’t remember the car ride home. 

What time was it? He needed some sleep. Haechan had brought a second cot over and put it next to Jaemin’s, correctly guessing that Jeno wouldn’t be going anywhere tonight. Haechan himself was currently crammed into a chair in the corner, head resting on his own shoulder, dead to the world. He was technically on watch right now for any complications, but Jeno didn’t begrudge him the sleep. Between Jaemin and the two brothers, Taeil and Haechan had had a busy couple of days. 

And of course, thinking about the brothers made Jeno think again about the fight. Yuta was so sure that Renjun had set them up. Jeno didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know if he could think, honestly, about anything besides Jaemin. Taeil had assured Jeno that there shouldn’t be any complications, that the bone was intact, the wound was sterile. Jeno truly did not care. He wouldn’t care until Jaemin was up and healthy. 

The sound of gagging broke Jeno out of his trance, and he followed it, ducking around the curtain, to see Sicheng puking into a bucket, Lucas’s hand behind his back helping him sit up. Renjun seemed to be sleeping, but it wasn’t restful. He kept shifting, eyes flickering below his lids. They looked small. 

Jeno wandered back over to Jaemin’s side, hoping up onto the extra cot this time. He lay down, and then rolled onto his side, watching Jaemin’s chest rise and fall. He closed his eyes. 

 

The crowd inside the infirmary was large. Renjun, Sicheng, and Jaemin were all present of course. They were joined by Yuta, Taeyong, Ten, Johnny, Mark, and Taeil. Mark had been relegated to a chair in the corner, told to _stay quiet and observe_ by Taeyong, who was the only other person sitting. Yuta stood, arms crossed, close to Jaemin. Johnny was off of Taeyong’s shoulder as usual. Taeil was next to Mark, and Ten stood to Taeyong’s left, restlessly shifting his weight. 

“So.” Taeyong began, “Let’s talk.” 

Yuta stepped forward. “We were set up.” He said, eyes flashing. “When looking for the beach house Renjun mentioned, we were ambushed by a group of YG members. They were ready for us.” 

“Renjun?” Taeyong said. 

Renjun looked up, leveling his gaze at Taeyong’s shoulder. “I didn’t set you up. I told you the most recent thing I did that wasn’t in the manor. I don’t know why people were there.” 

Yuta scoffed, uncrossing his arms only to re-cross them immediately. “So what? It’s just a coincidence that YG was ready for us?” 

“Yes.” Renjun said sharply, looking over at him. He opened his mouth again, before seeming to think better of it and closing it. 

“I wasn’t present at the beach house when Renjun last went.” Sicheng said, voice raspy. “But I’ve been before. It isn’t uncommon for there to be many people.” 

“Jaemin?” Taeyong said. 

Jaemin blinked. “There were a lot of people with guns. They definitely knew we were coming. But that could have been because we were wandering the beach area. People know Yuta’s face.” Jaemin took a long time to finish his words, wincing lightly whenever he moved wrong and pulled at the neat line of stitches in his shoulder. Every wince seemed to deepen Yuta’s anger. 

“I’m not lying.” Renjun said, lifting his chin at Yuta. “I hate Big Bang. Why would I help them?” 

Ten stepped forward to Taeyong, murmuring lowly in his ear. “It’s possible Big Bang left them behind in the raid on purpose. If we killed them it’d be no big loss, but if we didn’t then we would make a predictable move, easy for them to counter.” 

Taeyong nodded his acknowledgment of Ten’s words, and Ten stepped back to his post at Taeyong’s side. 

“Yuta, with me.” Taeyong said, turning to leave the room. Johnny and Ten fell into step beside him and Yuta followed along behind him. The four walked up to Taeyong’s office, where Taeyong slumped into his chair. There was a long pause. 

“I don’t think they set us up.” Taeyong said. Yuta opened his mouth, angry words ready, but quieted when Taeyong raised a hand. “I don’t think they set us up intentionally. I think YG knew what they were doing when they left them behind. I think everything we know from them should be examined closely. I think YG is setting them up as well.” 

Ten’s shoulders dropped for the first time all morning, and Yuta’s face, while still angry, was also considering. 

“The question that now remains is this: What do we do with them?” 

“What do we do with them?” Ten asked. 

Taeyong nodded. “Any information they have is potentially tainted. YG knows for sure we have them now after this morning's disaster. They officially have nothing to offer.” 

Johnny and Ten made eye contact over Taeyong’s head. “Are we taking an official vote?” Johnny asked. 

“Yes.” Taeyong said. “That way no one can complain later.” 

“We need Taeil, Kun and Doyoung then.” Ten said. “Mark?” 

“No.” Taeyong said. “Not Mark. Send for the others though.” 

Johnny nodded, leaving the room. Minutes passed with Ten sending glances towards Yuta, who was studiously avoiding Ten’s gaze. Johnny re-entered with Kun, Doyoung, and Taeil in tow. 

“We are having an official vote on Renjun and Sicheng.” Johnny said after they all finished filing in. “We all know the drill. Rings in the center.” Everyone lifted their hands, sliding the stylized ring off their fingers, except for Taeil who had to remove his from the chain around his neck. One by one, they stepped forward to place it on the dish the lived on Taeyong’s desk. Taeyong went last, and once all seven rings sat on the table, he looked up around the room. 

“I will now take motions on what is to be done about Renjun and Sicheng.” 

Both Ten and Yuta took a step forward, waiting. Taeyong nodded to Ten first, who bowed, and then addressed the room, “I move we take them under the official protection of NCT.” 

“Is it seconded?” 

“Seconded.” Kun said. 

Taeyong nodded, and Ten stepped back into the loose circle. Taeyong glanced over at Yuta now, who bowed, and said, “I move we let them stay until they are stable, and then send them out.” 

“Is it seconded?” 

“Seconded.” Doyoung said, ignoring the betrayed look Ten shot him. 

Taeyong looked over at Yuta, who stepped back into the circle. “You have all heard the motions. Are there any objections?” Silence. “Then we will take the vote. All in favor of Ten’s motion?” 

Ten, Johnny, and Kun raised their hands. 

“And for Yuta’s?” 

Doyoung and Yuta raised their hands. 

“I abstain.” Taeil said. 

“Very well,” Taeyong said. “Ten’s motion passes. We offer Renjun and Sicheng the full and official protections of NCT and all that entails.” 

Ten smiled, slightly, before flattening his face out into neutral professionality. He bowed to the room, who nodded acknowledgement. In reverse order, they took their rings off the dish, placing them back on their fingers. Taeyong looked around at the men standing in the room with him. 

“Dismissed.”


	13. Yuta, Taeil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to Renjun in his little beret looking like a tiny elf I want to die.
> 
> Also dedicated to Jaemin continuing to be the Aegyo King I love him so much and I'm so sorry Jisung.

It wasn’t that Yuta didn’t sympathize with Renjun and Sicheng. He did! Anyone would, honestly, but Yuta especially had been there when they were found. He had seen Renjun throwing himself at Johnny, had seen Sicheng sick and passive. 

To be honest with himself, he didn’t really think Renjun had set them up. But Jaemin was hurt, and the cause, whatever his intentions may be, was sitting in a cot just a few doors down. And now he was on his way to becoming a permanent fixture in the NCT community. Yuta was not quick to forgive people who hurt his family. If Jaemin had died? Well. Renjun likely would have followed. 

Yuta shook his head. Those thoughts weren’t helpful. Being outvoted meant that his opinion wasn’t popular, even if Doyoung had backed him up. He wondered what Doyoung’s reasons were. It wasn’t uncommon for Doyoung to disagree with Ten, but this had seemed a little more personal than usual. 

Again, though, unhelpful thoughts. Renjun and Sicheng were here to stay, like it or not. He should be spending his energy doing his best to make his peace with them. It would certainly be easier when Jaemin was off bed rest. Between Jaemin being hurt, and Lucas, Jaehyun, and Jeno’s longer guard shifts to cover for him, Yuta had no one to let off some steam with. 

He picked at the soup in front of him, curtesy of the large pot someone had made this morning and then left, warm and ready, for people to eat throughout the day. It was good, but he wasn’t really in the mood for eating. He wasn’t really in the mood for doing anything, besides maybe a good fight. He was becoming predictable, using sparring to avoid talking about his feelings or whatever. 

Maybe Renjun and Sicheng would turn the offer of protection down. Maybe they would want to leave. Ten’s plan just said they had to offer them protection, not that they had to follow them down the streets if they didn’t want it. Yuta closed his eyes. Wishful thinking. He wasn’t stupid. Those two had nowhere else to be, and likely weren’t ignorant to how quickly they would be killed if YG caught their trail. They had told NCT about the beach house, even if it was all a set up, and no one in this business liked loose ends. 

Maybe they wouldn’t be killed. There were a lot of other things you could do to someone with a pretty face when you were angry with them. Yuta frowned down at his hands. It was likely none of those things would be a first-time experience for either Renjun or Sicheng. SM didn’t deal in human trafficking, period, and Yuta therefore didn’t have to deal with the consequences of it very often. Ten showing up on their doorstep had been a bit of a wakeup call for a fledging NCT about the world outside of SM’s comfortable bubble. 

Yuta liked Ten, even if he didn’t always agree with him. He didn’t always agree with Doyoung either, though they had ended up falling on the same side this time. Doyoung always voted on the practical side of things, while Ten’s votes went to the more idealistic side. That the two of them were still as close as they were was something everyone guessed about. 

Yuta tried to justify to himself why, exactly, he hadn’t had a problem with Ten but he had such a problem with Renjun and Sicheng, and it all circled back around to Jaemin. Jaemin and Jeno and even Lucas to a certain extent needed to be watched. They were good at their jobs, but so young. Jaemin was hurt, and that was the end of the world. 

 

“I think we can take you off of supplemental oxygen now.” Taeil said, listening to Sicheng breathe through his stethoscope. “You gave us all a scare earlier.” 

Sicheng gave him his best chided look. Renjun’s snort was audible, before it set off a coughing fit. Taeil tutted, turning to look at him. 

“Bucket?” 

“Yes.” Renjun forced out, bringing a hand up to his mouth. Jeno left his post in the corner to snag the bucket from the ground and bring it up to Renjun’s level, who grabbed it and spit. Jeno’s nose wrinkled. Taeil could relate. 

Blood, surgery, broken bones; All of these were things Taeil didn’t mind dealing with. But patients who were constantly puking were probably his least favorite, right above people who tried to take out their own ivs. Movies lied to people. Leave his ivs alone. 

“Both of you appear to be getting better, which is a surprise, but a pleasant one.” Taeil said. “Generally, symptoms would peak around the 72 hour marks. It looks like yours peaked at about 40.” 

Renjun looked like he disagreed with something, though whether it was the fact that how he currently felt could be classified as better, or whether he just disagreed with Taeil himself, was anyone’s guess. Young, willful, not always pleasant. Sounded just like all the kids running around this base. He’d fit right in. 

“Here, Sicheng.” Taeil said. “This may feel a little odd.” He undid the tape holding the tube to Sicheng’s neck, before sliding the cannula out of his nose. Sicheng wrinkled his nose at the sensation, before sneezing. Cute. 

“Thank you.” Sicheng said. He sneezed again, raising an arm to wipe at his face. 

“No problem.” Taeil said. “Try to keep breathing this time, yes?” 

Sicheng ducked his head, and Taeil felt himself smile, helplessly. Now that the two weren’t in danger of being booted out at any moment, he felt comfortable admitting to himself that he was growing endeared. 

The curtain pushed open suddenly, revealing Jaemin, who was wheeling his iv stand with one hand, the other hanging in its sling. “Don’t mind me. Just need to piss.” He said, walking slowly. 

Taeil put a hand on his face. “Jeno?” 

Jeno was already on it, taking the iv stand from Jaemin and slinging Jaemin’s now free arm over his shoulder. Jaemin grinned broadly at Jeno, before turning his grin on Taeil. “Thanks, doc.” 

Taeil needed a break. Haechan had been asleep in an actual bed for about 6 hours at this point after Taeil had found him passed out in a chair at 6 this morning. He could probably wake him up now and catch a few hours himself. Nothing too dramatic could possible happen if Taeil took a 4 hour nap. He turned to look at Renjun and Sicheng, both of whom had eyes trained on the door Jaemin had just left through. 

“Sicheng.” Taeil said. “Now that you’re off the ventilator, did you want to try standing?” 

Sicheng was quiet for a moment, before nodding. Taeil tried for a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.” 

Carefully, Taeil helped Sicheng swing his legs over the side of the bed. He put them down on the floor, taking Taeil’s hands and pressing down on them, before leveraging himself upright and _oh wow he was really tall actually Taeil may not be able to catch him if he fell shit_. 

He didn’t fall though, standing relatively confidently for a moment, before sitting back down. “It’s hard.” He said, an adorably confused look on his face. Taeil had to smother a smile. 

“You’re working at 50% lung function, haven’t kept anything down for 48 hours, and still haven’t managed to kick that fever. It’s going to be hard.” 

“Oh.” Sicheng said. “Renjun?” 

“I’ve been up recently.” Renjun said. “I’ve walked around. You’re worse off.” 

Sicheng was quiet. 

“It’s fine,” Taeil said, “There’s no rush for either of you to get well.” The brothers shared a look, before starting a low conversation in Mandarin. Taeil was a little annoyed he couldn’t follow what they were saying, but he understood needing to talk openly about things without relative strangers listening in. He should get Kun in here. Or not. Eavesdropping was probably rude, even if the people being listened to didn’t know. _Especially_ if the people being listened to didn’t know. 

Taeyong was supposed to come by sometime soon to offer the protection to the brothers. Only he could officially offer it, as the boss of their unit. Taeil usually didn’t mind the ritual aspects of SM, like the abstention that medics in SM had to give during votes, but he had minded during the vote this morning. He was glad Ten’s plan passed, and if it hadn’t and he hadn’t been able to vote, he would have been upset. He understood though. Medic’s needed to treat anyone who came in through their doors. 

“Don’t panic, I’m back.” Jaemin said, as Jeno held the door for him. He was leaning more noticeably on his iv stand now, but Jeno was quick to haul him through the room and back to his cot, lifting him bodily onto the bed. “Oh be gentle, Jeno. I’m injured.” 

“Stay.” Jeno said, before pulling the curtain back around which did nothing to muffle Jaemin’s laughter. Taeil was glad to see him in such good spirits. Probably at least partially the morphine, of course. He wondered when Jaemin would realize he couldn’t hold a gun any time soon. Having that conversation with Jaemin sounded like Yuta’s job. 

“If everything is fine here, I’m going to head out.” Taeil said, gathering his bag. “I’ll send Haechan over soon, so don’t die before he gets here.” 

“Yes, mom.” Jeno said, sitting in a chair and picking up a book from the floor. Taeil waited, staring at Sicheng, until he, bewildered, nodded his consent as well. Good. He headed out the door.


	14. Jisung, Sicheng

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late today. I always do a final edit before posting and this chapter was just so frustrating to me. I really agonized about keeping some of the stuff in, but I didn't want to feel like I was softening anything. But then I also didn't want to feel like I had stuff in just for the sake of being edgy or whatever so I'm walking a fine line here. 
> 
> Also, Plot! And Jisung! I love Jisung he's an asshole. "When it's time to clean up I go to the bathroom and don't come out." what a monster I want to be him.
> 
> Some like weird trigger warnings maybe? Check the end notes if you're worried.

“So we may have a slight situation here, boss.” Jisung said into his cellphone, staring out blankly at the mess in front of him. 

One of his lieutenants had called Jisung up earlier that day, saying he had heard someone peddling a new drug earlier that day. He had followed the seller back to a building, but not gone inside. Jisung had told everyone not to engage, but to report to him, and he was glad now he had given that order. Better for his runners to not get too involved in actual gang politics. 

In front of Jisung was a drug lab, or the remains of one at least. Someone had trashed it, breaking beakers and ovens and leaving a trail of destruction everywhere. Jisung considered walking further into the room, then immediately decided against it. Leave that problem for someone else. 

The boss was saying something over the phone, but Jisung had lowered it from his ear to better focus on what was in front of him. When the volume level raised considerably though, he sighed and lifted it back to his ear. 

“Sorry. Bad connection. What were you saying?” 

“Where are you?” The Boss asked, sounding agitated. “And what's the situation?” 

"Just a trashed lab.” Jisung said. “Not one of ours. But I found it following a tip about a new drug.” 

“Mark your location on the map, then come home.” Boss said. “Come to my office when you get here.” 

Jisung heard a click. Must’ve been hung up on. No matter. He pulled up the shared map on his phone, putting a little pin down on his current location, before turning and heading out. He walked out onto the street, whistling lightly to himself and playing with his phone. He had just downloaded a new rhythm game, and it was actually super fun. 

He found his bike where he had dropped it earlier, tucking his phone into his backpack and swinging himself up onto the bike. He checked his jacket pocket to make sure his gun was easily accessible before heading back to base. Well. He might stop and get some takeout first. But the Boss could wait. 

 

Sicheng didn't remember the last time he had been allowed to sleep this much. He was used to spending long stretches of time in a bed, but unless GD wanted him to stay the night in his room, he wasn’t sleeping. 

And so much uninterrupted time with Renjun as well! It had been a while since they had spent so long together. GD had been more and more possessive recently, and Sicheng had been a little worried that he was going to move him into his room permanently. Being separated from Renjun would have been torture. He had told GD that before, and Sicheng suspected that was the only reason he hadn't already been moved. 

It made very little difference where he slept, of course, but it made him feel better to know that most nights, he would return to a room with his brother. He needed to see with his own eyes that Renjun was OK. 

The doctor here was nice, and his assistant was charming and funny. The rotating circle of guards were nice too, and so were Ten and Johnny. Ten said that there were no entertainments here. Sicheng was a little skeptical, but he wanted to believe him. He wanted to believe he was somewhere where no one kept people, and if Ten said he had found it, he was happy to take his word for it. And now Renjun was starting to believe it too, which made it all much easier. 

His chest hurt. Breathing had been very hard for a while there, and the doctor had probably saved his life. And Sicheng probably looked terrible right now, but no one was upset with him for it. At least being so sick had kept his weight down. Sicheng wasn’t sure if this gang would keep Renjun and him if they were completely unappealing, and after being this much trouble the least they could do was stay slim. 

GD had loved how thin Sicheng was. Once, after a series of parties in which Sicheng had been hand fed by GD while kneeling at his side, Sicheng’s sharp hip bones had disappeared under his skin, and GD had been furious. He’d withheld food from Sicheng _and Renjun_ for three days, until finally accepting his apologies. Sicheng hadn’t returned to his room for a while after that, and when he had, he’d held Renjun for nearly an hour, apologizing to him as well for his mistake. 

There were many lessons to be learned in life. Sicheng did his best to never make the same mistake twice. 

“Do you feel up to some food now?” The assistant, Haechan his mind supplied, asked. Sicheng nodded, before taking the offered plate. That was an awful lot of food. He was hungry, though. Maybe half? That couldn’t hurt. He took his chopsticks and divided the noodles in half, drawing a line down the center of the plate. He looked over at Renjun, who was in the middle of taking a huge bite. Sicheng wrinkled his nose. 

“ _Restraint._ ” Sicheng said in Mandarin. Renjun looked up, mouth full of food, before a guilty look over took his features. He swallowed, before taking a much smaller bite, chopsticks held delicately in his hands. Better. Sicheng hated that he had to chide Renjun, but it was for the best. Renjun forgot himself at times, and there was no room in this life for unattractive habits. Eating was an art, as was walking, talking, and sex. 

Haechan was looking at them, confusion clear on his face. Sicheng smiled at him, and he smiled back reflexively, seeming to forget what he had been confused about. Sicheng had practiced that smile in the mirror several times until it was perfect, and he was glad to see it still worked with his hair unwashed and his face grubby. He would do just about anything for a shower right now. 

The door opened. Sicheng looked up, but he was unfamiliar with the face of the man who walked in. He stopped picking at his food, instead sitting quietly and observing. Jeno got up from his seat to bow to him, and Haechan followed suit, before the man dismissed them with a casual wave of his hand, and they both went back to their posts. Someone powerful then. 

“We haven’t met.” He said, addressing Sicheng. “I am the leader of NCT. And as such, I am here to extend to you the offer of official protection under NCT.” 

Sicheng saw Renjun shift in his peripheral vision, and he shot him a quick glance, telling him to be quiet. He looked back at Taeyong. 

“You can choose to accept or reject this offer.” Taeyong said. “Though know if you reject it, as soon as you are both well you will be taken, blindfolded from this base, and left somewhere of your choosing. If you choose to accept, then you will be allowed to stay here.” 

Sicheng nodded slowly, thinking. They could stay here, yes, but what would they be doing? And if they did choose to leave, where would they go? Could they go back to Big Bang? Did he want to go back? Big Bang had been the only thing Sicheng knew for most of his life. He knew nothing of NCT. But, as always, there was Renjun to think of. And while Sicheng had found something relatively stable in GD’s favor, Renjun had never quite found his niche. Would life be better for him here? He had never dealt well with the sexual nature of their positions and had chafed under the absolute submission demanded of them. Maybe here he could do something else, something he was better suited for. Haechan, afterall, looked around the same age as him, and he was training to be a doctor. Renjun! A doctor! What a thought. 

He looked at Renjun, then back at Taeyong. He put on his best smile, before asking, “Can I talk with Renjun?” 

“Yes.” Taeyong said, “I’ll be back in an hour. Make a decision.” 

Sicheng watched him leave the room, before Renjun spoke up from his cot. 

“ _I want to stay._ ” He said in Mandarin. “ _I believe them, that they don’t keep people. I don’t want to go back. _”__

__Sicheng nodded. He had expected as much. “ _If you want to stay, then we should. I wonder, though, what we would do here._ ” _ _

__Renjun paused. It seemed he hadn’t thought that far ahead. He didn’t tend to think very far ahead at all._ _

__“ _We can ask._ ” Renjun said finally. “ _No more guessing at intentions. We should just ask exactly what they expect from us. It worked for me-_ ” He paused, swallowing, before starting again. “ _It worked for me earlier, when I asked what Haechan did here. He told me._ ” Sicheng was proud. His brother was so smart, and growing quicker all the time. He would do well here, among this mess of a gang, Sicheng was sure. And if Sicheng ended up being the thing holding him back from making something new of himself? Well, Sicheng would simply remove himself from the equation._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sicheng has a really disordered relationship with food brought about by his time with Big Bang which borders on anorexia. It's not a major plot point but it is something in his character and he thinks about it. Also since this chapter is his inner monologue there are references to his time with Big Bang. Nothing graphic, like usual. I'm not writing anything graphic in this fic at all, but still.


	15. Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Johnny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Triple POV chapter today! All the sections were so short so I ended up compiling them. Johnny and Jisung being brothers is an idea from the absolutely wonderful California Kids by aquasanha. Everyone should check it out.
> 
> Anyway! Lighter chapter today, though Jungwoo does have a kind of weird perspective on things. Dedicated to NCT dream doing aegyo like 3 times recently. I feel truly blessed. Enjoy!

“Nothing. There’s absolutely nothing.” Yuta said, closing the cabinet doors. “Fuck.” 

The glaring absence of any drugs or even chemical residue in the trashed drug lag meant this was a deliberate hit. Someone hadn’t wanted people getting their hands on this recipe. 

But who? Jaehyun wasn’t sure. YG was well respected in the gang world, only really butting heads with SM. But SM hadn’t ordered the hit, and if they had, NCT would have samples of Love Scenario in their hands right now. Well, Kun’s hands. And then they probably wouldn’t see him for a few days. 

“Jaehyun, call Taeyong.” Yuta ordered, heavy boots crushing the broken glass under foot. Jaehyun nodded, dialing Taeyong’s office number. He didn’t have to wait long. 

“Hello?” That was Johnny’s voice. 

“Where is Taeyong?” Jaehyun asked. 

“With Sicheng and Renjun. What’s up?” 

Jaehyun filled him in on the situation, and listened while Johnny made short unhappy sounds. 

“Taeyong talked to SM recently, and they’re taking a full hands-off approach on this unless we need them.” Johnny said. “If the lab is trashed and cleared out, someone else knows about this.” 

It felt like they were standing at the top of a roller coaster, about to take the first drop. Something was going on here, and Jaehyun didn’t like that he didn’t know what. 

“What do you want us to do?” Jaehyun asked. Johnny paused a minute. 

“Just... swab some of the glass wear and then head back to base.” 

“Will do.” Jaehyun said, before hanging up. He had a feeling it was a lost cause though. This was a thorough sweep, designed to look like a simple break in. Professionally done, honestly, though Jaehyun didn’t generally like admitting people outside of SM could be good at their jobs. 

Crunching announced Yuta’s return into the room. “And?” 

“Swab and clear out.” Jaehyun said. Yuta nodded, taking a pack off his belt and crouching down to inspect the remains of a beaker. Jaehyun looked around one last time, before crouching as well. Might as well get this over with. He was glad Yuta seemed to be in a better mood now. He of course didn’t know what went on in Taeyong’s office when the inner circle was in there, but Yuta had come out looking furious, before disappearing into his room. Jaehyun supposed he hadn’t gotten his way, though he wasn’t entirely sure what that would have entailed. He had been off duty when Yuta had returned with Jeno and Jaemin late last night, and had woken to Jaemin injured and Yuta placing the blame on Renjun. Since Renjun wasn’t currently dead, however, Jaehyun supposed Taeyong must have disagreed with that conclusion. 

“All set.” Jaehyun said, safely tucking the wrapped cotton swabs away into his belt. 

“Same here.” Yuta said. “Let’s head out.” 

They exited the building, turning to the car they had taken over. The car was a work of artful camouflage that had served as a sort of bonding experience for Jaehyun and Lucas, painting the whole thing a grey base coat and then taking turn smacking it with hammers. The engine, of course, was masterful. But you would never guess looking at it. 

Yuta stepped into the driver’s seat, before putting the key into the ignition and turning. The car purred gently to life, and Jaehyun sighed with pleasure. He loved cars. Yuta loved blowing cars up. So far, Yuta had not blown up a car while in it, so Jaehyun still felt relatively safe while he was driving. 

They arrived back at base at nearly 8pm. Yuta was starting to look a little dead on his feet, so Jaehyun nudged him towards the staircase to the rooms. Yuta nodded his thanks, before heading upstairs. Jaehyun himself turned and headed towards Taeyong’s office. He needed to report in, drop the swabs off with Kun, and then take over for Jeno on guard duty. 

Taeyong first though. He knocked lightly on the door, waiting to hear a “Come in!” The voice was higher than he was expecting, and when he opened the door he saw Ten sitting on Taeyong’s desk, Taeyong valiantly ignoring him. 

“Jaehyun hi!” Ten said, chipper. He must have just woken up recently. He kept weird hours. 

“Hello Ten.” Jaehyun said, bowing. “Boss.” 

“See Mark to fill out your post-mission report.” Taeyong said, not looking up from whatever he was doing. 

Jaehyun nodded, bowing again before leaving the room. Ten called out a cheerful goodbye that was cut off sharply by the heavy door closing. 

Mark was asleep on his desk when he got to his office. Jaehyun debated the best way to wake him up, before lifting a heavy book from his bookshelf and dropping it right next to Mark’s head. His jump and startled cussing made Jaehyun smile. What a kid. 

“The, _fuck_ , the report forms are over on the bookshelf.” Mark said, removing his glasses to rub at his eyes. He blinked a few times, before putting them back on. “...what time is it?” 

“8.” 

“Aren’t you late for your shift in the infirmary?” 

“I was out on a mission, Mark.” Jaehyun said, starting to smirk. 

Mark flushed. “Yes, of course, sorry. It’s just... it’s been a long day.” 

That was true. Things had a tendency to snowball in this life, and Sicheng and Renjun had brought a whole lot of mess with them. The past three days had all been a long day. “You’re not wrong. Can you go to bed?” 

Mark shook his head. “Not until I finish this report for SNSD. I’m compiling everything we discussed with Red Velvet for them.” 

“Then get to it.” Jaehyun said, turning to leave. Mark waved, opening his laptop back up and starting to type. 

Kun’s lab was in a different wing, so it took Jaehyun a minute to arrive. He hesitated, preparing himself, before knocking on the door and immediately taking several steps back. His caution was rewarded when the door swung open hard enough to smack into the opposite wall. 

“Oops!” Chenle said. “Jaehyun! Do you have samples for us?” Jaehyun nodded, passing the samples over to Chenle, who thanked him and pulled the door shut again. What was Kun feeding that child. 

Errands done, Jaehyun headed to the infirmary, ready for half of a night shift until Lucas would take over for him. He entered the room and waved at Jeno, who looked relieved. Jeno grabbed his jacket from where it hung on his chair and left the room. Jaehyun took over the chair he left behind, grabbing a book from his bag. He shifted until he was comfortable in the padded chair, glancing over at Haechan to make sure everything was under control, before settling in. 

 

“Jungwoo!” Lucas said, sitting up straighter in his chair. “What are you-” 

“Hush.” Jungwoo said, gesturing at the sleeping boys. Lucas flushed, before dramatically lifting his shoulders, pointing at Jungwoo, and then pointing down at the ground. Honestly. “You don’t need to communicate through gestures, Lucas. Just watch your volume.” Jungwoo said in an undertone. 

Lucas shot a thumbs up, before catching himself and saying aloud, “Ok.” 

It was still in the room. There were no windows this deep in the base, better for security, but Jungwoo often found it unsettling. Luckily, he wasn’t here very often, mostly preferring to work from a distance. 

“I wanted to see our guests.” Jungwoo said, answering Lucas’s earlier question. “I was the only adult who hadn’t met them yet.” 

Lucas nodded. “That makes sense, though maybe come back again later? I’m here until 10am, and they’ll definitely be awake by then.” 

“I can also visit them while you aren’t on shift.” Jungwoo said, teasing Lucas a bit. He got the reaction he wanted when Lucas ducked his shoulders up to his ears. “But no, I’m not sure I should. I don’t want them confused about my work.” 

“Right yeah.” Lucas said. “That could be confusing.” 

“I just needed to see them.” Jungwoo said, walking over to a bed. The boy in it was blonde and pale, sharp cheekbones prominent and delicate. Jungwoo lifted a hand as if to touch him, but he caught himself at the last minute, dropping his hand back down. “Which one is which?” 

“That’s Sicheng,” Lucas said, “and then the brunet is Renjun.” 

Sicheng and Renjun. Brothers. They had complimentary coloring. Jungwoo could see in his mind how he would lay them out together for customers, limbs arrayed just so and heads tilted together, hair mingling. But no. These automatic thoughts were ones that could be harmful if he kept them when it came to these particular boys. It was all a strange minefield, and the late hour didn’t help. 

Sicheng moved in his sleep, and Jungwoo held his breath, not daring to step back for fear of waking him. When Sicheng stilled again, he sighed and moved quickly to the corner with Lucas. His eyes caught on Lucas’s long lashes. Lucas was stunning in a different way to the boys, but Jungwoo could see him sprawled out on a bed just as clearly, arms above his head to emphasize his triceps, and long legs parted just slightly. He shook his head. Maybe he was working too much recently. 

“I think I should head out.” Jungwoo said. Lucas looked upset, so he was quick to add “I’m not leaving for ever. Just heading to bed.” 

“Are you staying here tonight?” Lucas asked. Jungwoo thought about it. He didn’t visit very often, usually just when he had something to report, and he spent the night even less. 

“I think I will.” Jungwoo said. “I wanted to talk to Ten anyway. I’ll stay through the morning.” 

Lucas looked surprised, but it quickly morphed into a grin. Jungwoo smiled back. It would be nice to spend some time at the base. He didn’t like to admit it, but he had missed the other members, as chaotic as they were. He wondered whose bed he would sleep in tonight. There was no point in sleeping alone when there were this many people to steal the blankets from. Maybe Doyoung? Doyoung would be so put out if Jungwoo woke him up at 3 in the morning. Which, honestly, made it even better. He grinned. Doyoung it was. 

 

  
“Who would attack Big Bang?” Johnny asked. “Well. Besides us of course. We’re sure it wasn’t us?” 

Taeyong sighed, re-reading the files in front of him for the millionth time. “According to SM, no attacks on Big Bang were authorized.” 

And attacks on Big Bang would need authorization. Ever since SNSD had dismantled 2NE1, SM had put out a blanket need for authorization before any attacks on a YG sub gang. Last Johnny heard, SM was still in peace talks with YG. It had been about 10 years though, so he didn’t think any real progress was being made. 

“This means there’s a third player entering the game.” Taeyong said. “And that’s a problem. Call Red Velvet, and tell Ten and Jungwoo to send out feelers. And then tell Jisung he’s on base arrest until further notice.” 

Johnny winced. He did not want to tell Jisung that. Maybe he could get Chenle to tell him somehow? Jisung would certainly take the news better from a friend than his older brother. 

“Should we talk to Renjun and Sicheng?” Johnny asked. Taeyong made a dismissive noise. 

“I don’t see what they would know about this.” 

“That’s fair. They accepted the protection though, right?” 

“Yes.” Taeyong said. “They’re officially our problem. I’m-” He cut himself off. Johnny frowned, moving to touch Taeyong but Taeyong brushed him off. “It’s nothing.” 

“It’s OK to be worried about people who aren’t family.” Johnny said. Taeyong didn’t react, so he continued. “I know this is hard for you, having to be the practical boss while people are hurting.” 

“It’s different now.” Taeyong said. “From when we got Ten. So much more is at risk.” 

“I know. We’re doing the best we can.” Johnny walked around behind Taeyong and dropped his hands onto his shoulders. Taeyong’s head dropped forward and he let out a shuddering breath the rolled down his spine. “Everyone is safe. Everyone’s at base right now, too. We should have a family dinner.” 

“Tomorrow.” Taeyong said, head hanging. “I need you to go pick me up some stuff from the store.” 

Johnny grinned. “Sounds great.”


	16. Jaemin, Chenle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Have a chapter!
> 
> NOTE: No chapters at all next week. This girl is on vacation and I don't plan on doing a goddamn thing. So I'll see you all again next next Monday. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
> 
> Dedicated to Johnny's see through top for the regulate teaser images. And Jungwoo being a fucking model. And Donghyuck's bowl hat/necklace/shushing the camera combo. They're all great promo images but I think those three won.
> 
> ANYWAY! Enjoy and see you all post-turkey day.

“This is bullshit!” Jaemin said, crossing his arms. Or trying to, at least, before the movement pulled on his stitches and he hissed sharply, dropping them. Haechan stared at him, blank faced, and Jaemin flushed darkly, turning his head away. “It’s still bullshit.” 

“Sure.” Haechan said. “But I can’t do anything about it, so like, complain to someone else yeah?” 

Jaemin knew Haechan couldn’t do anything about his surgery recovery time, but he was furious and Haechan was a convenient target. He needed to be doing things, looking for Big Bang, not lying around in bed being taken care of. 

“Listen, I just need to check your stitches. Are you going to be a good friend and not put up a fuss?” Haechan asked, tapping his foot. Jaemin considered putting up a fight, and then remembered Haechan had been dealing with Renjun for 3 days, and reconsidered. Haechan’s hands were practiced along the sutures, testing for any weak points, before declaring him fine and turning to leave. 

“Wait!” Jaemin said. 

“Yeah?” 

“Can you open the curtain?” Jaemin asked. “I don’t want to be cut off from the rest of the room, and there’s no reason for it anyway.” 

Haechan considered this, before nodding. “Why not?” He yanked the curtain open as he walked past it, and Jaemin took a good look at the room. 

“Get pumped, shorty, your iv comes out today.” Haechan said to Renjun, who rolled his eyes before saying something in Mandarin. Jaemin didn’t know Mandarin, and neither did Haechan, but both could read his tone well enough. Haechan let out a scandalized gasp, turning to Jeno in the corner. 

“Did you hear that, Jeno?” Haechan exclaimed. “I think I was just threatened. Call in the cavalry.” 

Renjun grabbed a pillow from the small mountain he had been amassing, tossing one with surprising accuracy and hitting Haechan in the back of his head. Sicheng looked as though he had just seen a rabbit run into traffic, and he said something lowly in Mandarin that made Renjun frown. Renjun opened his mouth, but Haechan cut his thoughts off by beginning to laugh. 

“I like you.” Haechan said, turning to grin at Renjun. 

Jaemin didn’t know it was possible to feel so out of the loop so quickly. Was Haechan friends with Renjun? That didn’t seem very fair. Jaemin had found him, and Jaemin had gotten shot for him. He should get to be friends with Renjun. 

“Hello.” He said, loudly, managing to catch the attention of everyone in the room. “I am here now. Include me.” 

The look he got from Haechan made Jaemin think he had been a bit too transparent, but it was too late now. He might as well commit. 

“Jaemin, yes?” Sicheng said. Jaemin nodded, thrilled to be remembered. “You were shot.” 

“Yeah, but it’s all good now!” Jaemin said. Haechan scoffed. 

“You’re on morphine. Of course you think it’s all good.” 

Oh. Was he on morphine? That would explain how hard it was to watch his mouth. His eyes followed the line of his iv up to where it attached to a hanging bag. He didn’t really need morphine. Maybe he could just- 

“Absolutely not.” Haechan said, rushing over and removing Jaemin’s hand from where it had been sneaking towards his iv. Jeno laughed clearly from the corner of the room. Traitor. 

“Can you just turn the drip off then?” Jaemin asked. 

Haechan looked at him thoughtfully. “You know what? Fine.” He adjusted something on the iv stand, before leaving, walking back over to Renjun. He started unwrapping tape from Renjun’s arm, and Renjun’s eyes closed tightly, turning his head away from Haechan. His free hand reached out and Sicheng closed the distance, intertwining their hands together. Haechan slid the needle out of Renjun’s arm, before pressing down on the spot with a clean gauze. He held this for a minute, before wrapping the arm. “You can look now.” 

Renjun opened his eyes, looking down at his arm with something very young in his expression. “Sicheng?” 

“Not yet.” Haechan said. “You’re eating regular amounts and keeping it all down, Sicheng isn’t.” He turned a glance onto Sicheng, who didn’t quite meet his eyes. 

Sicheng had been sick when they picked him up. Jaemin guessed withdrawal had just hit him harder. Haechan looked unhappy. It must be hard dealing with sick people all the time when you were as naturally empathetic as he was. 

Renjun and Sicheng started another low conversation in Mandarin. Based on Jeno’s expression, Jaemin guessed this was a common occurrence. He hoped that one day the brothers wouldn’t feel the need to hide everything, especially now that they had accepted NCT’s official protection. 

Oh right. “Jeno.” Jaemin said, waving him over. When Jeno was close enough, he spoke in an undertone. “Has Taeyong sent the request for protection over to SM yet?” 

“Mark was writing it earlier.” Jeno said, matching Jaemin’s tone. “I’m honestly not sure if they’ll approve it, but NCT isn’t exactly weak. Even if SM doesn’t extend their own protection, nothing is going to get to Sicheng and Renjun.” 

Jaemin grinned. It was always good to see Jeno feeling confident. And it was also good to see he had taken a firm stance on Jaemin’s side of the situation. If Jaemin didn’t blame Renjun (and by extension, Sicheng) then Jeno wouldn’t either. Yuta would cool off. And Jeno was right, of course. NCT relied on SM for very little, and while Jaemin hoped they would say yes, NCT could handle pretty much anything. 

“Honestly, I almost hope they say no.” Jeno said. “It’d be nice to keep this in the family. Not,” He quickly backtracked, “That SM isn’t family! We’re all family of course, it’s just-” 

“I got you.” Jaemin interrupted. Jeno smiled sheepishly, his eyes curving into perfect arcs. Jaemin wished he’d never leave. 

A cough interrupted them. Jaemin looked over to see Haechan staring at them. 

“Secret’s don’t make friends.” Haechan said, crossing his arms. 

Jaemin rolled his eyes, before using his good arm to push Jeno away from his cot. “Please.” 

“ _Puh-lease_ ” Haechan parroted back. “Whatever. Don’t let me interrupt your pow-wow.” 

Even with the addition of Renjun and Sicheng in their midst, everything felt totally normal to Jaemin. It was amazing how quickly things could bounce back to some form of normal. He was glad, as always, to be a part of NCT. 

 

“That’s just about all we can do for at least a few days.” Kun-ge said. Every available surface of the lab had been covered in samples left to set and dry. “We’ll have to check in on things occasionally of course, but most of these batches just need to rest before testing.” 

Chenle nodded, exhausted but trying not to show it. He felt like he had been working for a lifetime, trying to recreate the drug Kun-ge had isolated in Renjun and Sicheng’s bloodwork. Even with Ten and Doyoung stopping by from time to time to lend a hand, it had been a long couple of days. 

He wanted desperately to meet Renjun and Sicheng. Having them just a few doors down for four days had been such a tease. “So are we done-done?” Chenle asked. 

“Yes, we’re ‘done-done’” 

“Then let’s grab some lunch! I’m starving.” Chenle said, already moving to the sink to wash his hands of the remains of any chemicals. “Didn’t Ten say that Taeyong was stress-cooking? I want to eat everything in the entire world!” 

Kun-ge laughed, and Chenle felt accomplished. It was always good to make Kun-ge laugh. Chenle felt like he owed him an awful lot after he had taken Chenle in when his parents died. Maybe this lifestyle wasn’t very traditional, but for Chenle it was wonderful, and the people at NCT were a family he wouldn’t give up for anything. 

“Alright,” Kun-ge said. “We can go. And then afterwards, if you don’t fall asleep at the table, we can go meet Renjun and Sicheng too.” 

Chenle gasped, before jumping in place. “Yes! Oh I definitely won’t fall asleep you’ll see. I’m so excited! Let’s go let’s go let’s go!”


	17. Haechan, Doyoung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WHAT UP! Happy back from break y'all! Just a few more weeks of classes and the semester is over which is amazing. Get hype!! Thank you for all the thanksgiving wishes last chapter. It really gave me a boost going into break which rocked.
> 
> Anyway! Have a new chapter. Dedicated to Donghyuck's hair and Taeil lying on that table and their amazing choreography and Jungwoo being a real life model and Simon Says being such a bop. And a million other things but whatever. 
> 
> We are coming up onto the stuff I have already written, so updates will probably be slower from here on out. I have 4 or 5 more chapters backlogged, but it's harder to write while classes are in session (this fic was started over fall break) so inevitably we're going to catch up. I'll keep writing though don't worry. This is a story I need to see to the end.
> 
> Enjoy!

“I knew this would happen.” Haechan said, staring at Jaemin who was putting up a valiant effort to not show how clearly in pain he was. 

“What are you talking about.” Jaemin said through his teeth. Haechan rolled his eyes. All the front line fighters were the same at their core. 

“Just admit you want me to turn the morphine back on.” 

“I’m fine.” Jaemin said. His hairline had darkened with sweat, and Haechan was near the end of his shift, and his patience. 

“Be fine quietly then.” 

Jaemin shifted carefully on his cot, lying back as slowly as possible to avoid jostling his arm, before very deliberately turning his head to look away from Haechan. Whatever. Haechan had more important things to deal with than Jaemin being Jaemin. 

Jaehyun had replaced Jeno at 6pm, just a few minutes ago, so Haechan wasn’t entirely sure who Jaemin was trying to impress. He really hoped it wasn’t Renjun. If it was, well, good luck to him. 

Haechan wandered back over to Renjun, who had migrated over to Sicheng’s cot at some point today, and the two of them had done their little shifting dance to fit both of them comfortable, side by side. Sicheng was reading a book someone had found him, hand in Renjun’s hair, and Renjun himself appeared to have dozed off again, leaning on Sicheng’s shoulder. That was the cutest fucking thing Haechan had seen in like a month, and he really wanted to pinch Renjun’s cheek or something. He would hold it in until he saw Mark next. 

It would be dinner soon, so Haechan needed to wake him up. He tried to think of an obnoxious way to do it that wouldn’t bother Sicheng, and couldn’t think of one. He had probably slept like that just to ruin Haechan’s fun. Brat. 

Dinner, though. That worried Haechan a bit. Sicheng still wasn’t eating much, and Haechan was starting to worry about his reasoning. He was almost definitely underweight, and if he didn’t start gaining weight, Haechan would have to tell Taeil and Taeil would have to have an uncomfortable conversation with Haechan probably present. Haechan really didn’t want to have to put him on a feeding tube or something. 

The door opened with a loud bang, and Haechan turned quickly to see who it was, catching a glimpse of Jaehyun out of the corner of his eye jumping into a ready position. Instead of a fight however, all motion stopped when they spotted Chenle in the doorway, shoulders at his ears. 

“Sorry. I’m really trying not to do that.” Chenle said, moving into the room. His hair was an absolute disaster, pieces sticking up wildly. Kun was following closely behind him with an amused expression on his face. 

“See, I was gonna come by earlier, but then I fell asleep at lunch and Kun wouldn’t let me visit until I took a nap _in a real bed_ ” Chenle said, doing a terrible imitation of Kun’s calm tone. It reminded Haechan of Doyoung. 

Renjun had shot awake at Chenle’s entrance and was staring at both the newcomers with wariness. Sicheng marked his page in his book before slowly setting it down. Chenle finally drew his gaze over to them, and made a high pitched noise before rushing to the shared cot, shouting something in Mandarin. 

Sicheng had looked startled at Chenle’s fast movements, but as soon as Chenle had started speaking in Mandarin he had calmed a bit, waiting for a pause in noise before saying something in response. Chenle responded back, Kun joined in, and Haechan was officially over people speaking in Mandarin around him. 

Had Renjun and Sicheng met Kun and Chenle yet? Haechan hadn’t been around if it had happened. If it hadn’t though, the fact that Mandarin made Renjun and Sicheng immediately relax was a little unfair. Haechan had been teasing Renjun for 3 days now and he was just starting to get good responses. And Sicheng was like a closed book with several feet of chain and a padlock on it. 

Haechan looked over at Jaemin, who was watching this exchange with open jealously. Ha! Haechan could relate, but it was still fun to see Jaemin being pouty. He grinned and walked over, sitting down on the cot next to Jaemin. 

“Does it burn?” 

Jaemin glared at him, before visibly collecting himself. “It’s good that they can talk to people.” He said diplomatically. Spoil sport. 

“I’m a little jealous to be honest.” Haechan said in a conspiratory tone, leaning in towards Jaemin. 

“...same.” 

“All in good time I think.” Haechan said, standing again. “My shift is over, so I’m gonna grab some dinner.” He made to leave, before Jaemin’s voice stopped him. 

“Wait.” Jaemin said. “Could you... could you turn the morphine back on?” 

 

  
Ten was in his room. 

This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but considering the vote that had occurred yesterday, it was a little bit stressful to see him waiting here. 

“Can we talk?” 

Doyoung toed out of his shoes, taking his time to line them up neatly in a row with his other pairs. He looked up at Ten, who was sitting on his bed with his legs crossed. Might as well get this over with. “Yeah.” 

“Jungwoo came and talked to me yesterday. He’s pretty confused about this whole situation.” Ten said. “I think it made me understand just how biased I’m being right now. I don’t know what would have to happen for me to want to turn those boys away. It’s ok that you voted against me.” Ten grabbed one of Doyoung’s pillows and placed it in his lap. “I’m not mad anymore. I just want to know your reasoning I guess.” 

Doyoung hesitated, before crossing to sit next to Ten, grabbing a pillow as well. “It’s not that I don’t want to help them.” 

Ten snorted. Doyoung was momentarily offended, and it must have shown on his face because Ten raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I know that you want to help them, Doyoung. You’re a good person.” 

Was he? He had voted to kick out two clearly abused young adults, knowing full well that the second someone from Big Bang spotted them, they would be picked up and probably killed. “I’m not always sure about that.” He turned to face front, and Ten sighed before copying him, so neither of them was looking at the other. 

“I am.” Ten said. “You just want what’s best for the gang.” 

“They’re a security breach waiting to happen.” 

“I know.” 

“Then how-” 

Ten turned, facing Doyoung. “I told you. I’m biased.” 

Doyoung studied his face. Ten was very open right now, and Doyoung felt like he could see every bruise the other boy had ever had written somewhere in his eyes. They kept eye contact, before Doyoung had to break it, overwhelmed. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry too.” Ten said. “About Jessica. I know that all went down before I got here, but still.” 

Doyoung was quiet. Jessica had been brought up more this week than in the 7 years he had worked for NCT after her betrayal. “Do you know what happened?” 

“I know that you were close.” Ten said. “I know that she betrayed SNSD. That’s about it.” 

Doyoung closed his eyes. “Do you know that I’m the one who told Taeyeon about her betrayal?” 

“No.” 

“She was the one who brought me into SM. I was a recent runaway, and she caught me when I pick pocketed her.” He laughed. “When she called me out, I thought I was done for. But she offered me a job instead.” 

When he opened his eyes, Ten was watching him carefully. “You don’t have to tell me this.” 

“I want to.” He honestly did. Ten and him had been at odd’s with each other since Ten had found his way to them, but they were still incredibly close. It felt right to share this. “I worked for her for three years, keeping her papers and going with her on information gathering missions, before I started noticing things that seemed odd. She was going to meetings late at night, and her notes on SM sub-units would be missing occasionally, before being returned. So one night, I followed her.” 

“It was stupid. If I had been caught, I would’ve been killed. But I was, what, 19?” Doyoung brought his hands up to his face, rubbing his eyes. “I didn’t think about that. I followed her out and saw her meeting with AKMU. She was giving them the security information on TVXQ.” He breathed. Ten put his hands on Doyoung’s knees. “I panicked, and the next morning I went straight to Taeyeon. I didn’t even confront Jessica about it, try to talk to her, anything. Taeyeon had Yuri get Jessica, as well as the other inner circle members. She asked Jessica if it was true, and she didn't deny it. They took a vote, and when it was over Taeyeon shot her in the head.” He had always wanted the chance to see an official vote take place, but sitting in the corner that day had been terrifying. He remembered every detail. The beautiful plate full of rings, the exact color of the blood splatter, the dress Jessica had been wearing, the coolness in Taeyeon’s glance. 

“Then she sent you to NCT?” Ten asked. 

“No. I asked to be sent somewhere. It was just too much to stay.” 

“I’m sorry.” Ten said. Doyoung didn’t want any pity from Ten, but Ten wasn’t offering any. 

“We all have our tragic backstories.” Doyoung joked, weakly. “And I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad you’re here too. And I’m sure I’ll be glad Renjun and Sicheng are here soon enough.” 

Ten grinned, before hoping off the bed, dropping Doyoung’s pillow on the floor. “Have you had dinner yet? I haven’t. Let’s grab something.” 

Doyoung allowed himself to be dragged to his feet, stopping only to put both pillows neatly back on his bed, before following Ten out the door.


	18. Renjun, Jisung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I forgot to post Wednesday oops. One more week of classes and then finals we're making it everyone!
> 
> Continued trigger warning for Sicheng's disordered relationship with food. Again, it's not a huge thing but it is something that will come up for him.
> 
> Anyway, Enjoy! Dedicated to Renjun sewing the eyes on Chenle's bear I'm so soft.
> 
> Italics mean Mandarin.

“ _He isn’t here._ ” Renjun said. “ _and we’re staying here, not leaving. You promised me. So if we’re staying here, and he isn’t here, then there’s no reason not to eat._ ” 

“ _The boss here said when we were healthy, they would find positions for us._ ” Sicheng said, moving his chopsticks mindlessly over the bowl of fried rice he’d been given. “ _We didn’t get a chance to ask what they would be. It’s safer to keep any changes to a minimum._ ” 

Renjun felt a growl rising in his chest, and he shoved it down. Jeno had taken over for Lucas just recently, so no one in the room could understand their conversation. Better to keep this group in the dark about any disagreements Renjun might have with Sicheng. A united front was always safer. 

“ _If they want us to work in prostitution, we’ll leave._ ” Renjun said, full of a sort of righteous anger. “ _It isn’t fair._ ” 

“ _Few things are._ ” Sicheng was much too calm for Renjun right now. The iv in Sicheng’s arm felt like it was glaring at Renjun, and he wanted nothing more than to rip it out and take Sicheng somewhere safe they could hole up together, away from constant check-ups and guard rotations. Renjun would do a better job this time of protecting him. He would keep everyone away for good. 

“ _If you don’t eat, you won’t get better. That’s what Taeil said._ ” Taeil had said a bit more than that, taking Renjun aside this morning while walking him to a bathroom to take an absolutely heavenly shower. He had asked Renjun plainly if Sicheng was leaving food behind on purpose, taking Renjun’s stubborn silence as confirmation. “ _How are you going to protect me if you’re stuck in this room?_ ” 

Sicheng finally looked up from his bowl, shooting Renjun a dark look. “ _The same way I always have._ ” 

Renjun flinched. He felt like shit, turning Sicheng’s whispered promises back on him like that. He was just... “ _I’m scared for you._ ” 

Sicheng’s eyes softened. “ _Come here._ ” 

Renjun went, tucking himself into Sicheng’s side and putting his head on his chest. The steady heartbeat there soothed him more than he could say. He felt Sicheng’s hand settle onto his head. 

“ _There’s nothing to worry about._ ” Sicheng said, his voice a low rumble Renjun could almost feel more than he could hear. “ _I’m eating more. I promise._ ” He sighed. “ _This isn’t easy for me either, Renjun. I keep looking over my shoulder, expecting a call. I can’t do anything about this cot, the guards, or the iv, so I’m looking for a little bit of stability._ ” 

Renjun traced a hand along Sicheng’s side, counting each rib. “ _I hate that we can’t get away from them._ ” 

“ _We can._ ” Sicheng said. “ _We have. We just need some time to adjust._ ” 

Renjun looked up, meeting Sicheng’s dark eyes. He wanted to believe that Sicheng knew his restricting was bad, and he looked for any trace of dishonesty on his face. He only found a rare level of openess that Renjun knew he reserved for him and him alone. “ _Taeil is onto you._ ” 

Sicheng snorted. “ _Taeil is easy. Besides, didn’t I just say I was eating more? I’m a little excited, honestly. Do you see this bowl?_ ” He held it out in front of Renjun’s face. “ _There is so much food in this bowl._ ” 

“ _Yeah, but it probably isn’t fancy enough for you._ ” Renjun teased. “ _I’m used to fried rice, you’re used to Korean BBQ and Gochujang._ ” 

“ _Bite your tongue._ ” 

Renjun laughed, pushing himself off of Sicheng and sitting up in the cot. He stood up out of the cot, taking a moment to steady himself, before walking back over to his cot to grab the bowl that had been left for him. The food here was good, honestly. While Renjun hadn’t had all of the perks of G-Dragon's favor that Sicheng had, Sicheng had made sure that Renjun ate well. Whoever was cooking here did a good job. He shoveled down the bowl, before taking his empty bowl over to Sicheng and switching it for his half full one. He finished Sicheng’s food off for him, and Sicheng shot him a grateful smile. Both bowls were placed on the tray they had been brought in on. 

It was quiet again. Jaemin hadn’t woken up yet today, and Haechan and Taeil were out doing who knows what. Jeno was the only other awake person in the room, and his nose was buried in his phone. 

“Jeno?” Jaemin’s voice called from his bed. Guess he woke up. Jeno’s eyes shot up from his phone, before he stood and headed towards Jaemin’s bed. 

“Yes?” 

“Just wanted attention.” 

Renjun watched Jeno’s eyes curl into half-moons. They were happy here obviously, happy with their jobs, their bosses, and the other members. He wanted that. He wanted it desperately, a place he was happy, surrounded by people he trusted. He didn’t even care about a job, really. His full-time job could be watching over Sicheng and keeping away anyone who saw Sicheng’s face and wanted him for themselves. He looked at Sicheng, who had picked back up the book he’d been reading recently. Renjun didn’t remember him getting a book, and he wondered who had given it to him. 

Why didn’t Renjun get a book? He could read. He wasn’t taken that young. He wanted a book. “Hey, Jeno?” 

Jeno paused his conversation with Jaemin, looking over at Renjun. “Yes?” 

“I want a book.” 

Renjun felt Sicheng shake slightly with a suppressed laugh next to him. He turned to glare at him, but Sicheng was staring down at the pages innocently. 

Jaemin made an amused sound from his cot, and Jeno startled slightly at it. He opened his mouth. “Can you read Korean?” 

Renjun was offended. He made sure to twist his face fully before nodding. Jeno flushed, before walking towards his chair in the corner of the room. He grabbed his bag from the ground and fished around in it before making a pleased sound and pulling a book out. He handed it to Renjun. 

“You can borrow this? I’ll text Jaehyun and tell him to bring some more stuff on his shift.” 

Renjun looked at the cover. The edges of the book were well worn, and he traced his fingers along them softly, feeling old dog-eared corners. 

“Sorry it’s so beat up.” Jeno was saying. Renjun tuned back into him. “It’s been passed around to nearly everyone on base at some point or another. It’s funny, and it has a happy ending.” 

The cover said Good Omens. Renjun shifted on the cot next to Sicheng, before opening the cover and beginning to read. 

 

  
“It’s so unfair the Taeyong won’t let you meet them.” Chenle said. He was lying on his back in _Jisung’s_ bed, playing with _Jisung’s_ phone, and stealing all of _Jisung’s_ pillows. Jisung considered shoving him onto the floor, but decided against it when Chenle looked up at him, pouting. “They’re really nice. Well-” he paused, reconsidering “Sicheng is really nice. Renjun is a little rude. But so are you, so I think it’s fine.” 

That wasn’t untrue. Jisung personally didn’t care much if he met Renjun and Sicheng now or later. Considering they were under NCT protection, he would meet them eventually. But there wasn’t really any rush. It was just confusing why he couldn’t. They must be dangerous or something, considering the constant guard shifts and the enforced distance. Kun had asked for forgiveness, not permission, when taking Chenle to visit. Jisung was stuck with Johnny though, who almost never went against the boss. Boring. “Do they seem like threats?” 

“What? Oh no they aren’t dangerous at all!” Chenle said. “I think we just aren’t supposed to know about the whole systemized rape thing.” 

What. “What?” 

Chenle paused. “You didn’t know? It’s like with Ten.” 

Oh. 

Chenle started shifting in place. Jisung guessed he’d been quiet too long. “I’m sorry, I thought you knew.” 

Jisung lifted a hand and dropped it onto Chenle’s shoulder, who calmed at the contact. He handed Jisung his phone, before laying down and dropping his head into Jisung’s lap. Jisung fidgeted with his phone, before pulling up the rhythm game he liked and playing a few levels. He wanted to be quiet for a while.


	19. Lucas, All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HELLO! I greet you all from the depths of death week, which proceeds the wonder of finals weeks and is way harder actually? Also ballet today kicked my ass and my achilles hurt but I landed like so many good double pirouettes so it's all good.
> 
> ANYWAY! This chapter. Is a tiny bit overdue. But it's here! Some things finally get stated outright, so hopefully less miscommunication for our characters in the future. I did have to make a seating chart though so that was annoying.
> 
> Dedicated to dream show. And Renjun following Jaemin to his room after a scary movie. And Renjun in the reindeer onesie I almost died. And just the NCT twitter community for literally making me feel like I was attending dream show. 
> 
> 1 kudos is 1 poster hung up for our pour missing boy Sicheng where is he.

“I’m back!” Lucas said, walking into the infirmary. Jeno looked up from his corner with confusion in his eyes. “Don’t worry Jeno. I’m not taking over for you. Taeil asked me to come help with something?” 

“Yes and good timing.” Taeil voice said from somewhere behind Lucas. Lucas definitely did not jump when Taeil started talking. “Renjun showered this morning. It’s Sicheng’s turn but he’s taller than me and I’m worried I won’t be able to catch him if he falls.” Oh God. He did not want to be responsible for someone. 

“Absolutely not.” Renjun said. Lucas looked over at where the two brothers had crammed into one bed. Renjun’s hair did look cleaner now, Lucas supposed. 

“No worries little man!” Lucas said, forcing a grin and trying to diffuse the situation. “I won’t drop your brother. I’m very stable.” 

This didn’t appear to be working. Renjun was gripping Sicheng’s hand hard in his own, and Sicheng himself didn’t appear to be stepping up to Lucas’s defense. A tiny part of Lucas (so tiny) hoped Taeil would change his mind. What if Sicheng fell on Lucas’s watch? He didn’t want to die yet. 

“Renjun.” Taeil said. “You were fine this morning when you were separated. This is the exact same situation.” 

“No.” Renjun said. “I’m not letting you send Sicheng off with some-” 

“Renjun.” Sicheng said. They made eye contact and did some freaky brother telepathy or something, but the next thing Lucas knew, Renjun was climbing off the cot and helping Sicheng into a standing position. Taeil went over and unhooked him from the iv bag, placing plastic wrap over the catheter still in Sicheng’s arm. Lucas blinked once, surprised by the sudden turn of events, before rushing over to help steady Sicheng. Renjun got tenser the closer he got, but he didn’t protest. 

“Let’s go then!” Lucas said. He put out his arm for Sicheng to grab, standing up tall and proud, and grinned when he felt a thin arm snake itself around his. “We’ll be back!” 

“Everything you need should already be in there.” Taeil said. “Oh but here.” He handed Lucas a bundle of dark clothing. Lucas grabbed it with a quick thanks, before turning to escort Sicheng down the hall. 

They made slow progress, with Sicheng using Lucas’s arms to steady himself as he walked. Getting to the shower was a bit of a relief, as Lucas had been afraid Sicheng would slip and fall any minute while they were in the hallway. Of course, he could still fall in the bathroom. Thinking calm thoughts. 

“Can you help with my shirt?” Sicheng asked. “I can’t lift my arms high enough to do this on my own.” 

“Of course.” Lucas said. He pulled the collar of Sicheng’s shirt over his head, leaving him standing with his face covered. It took some finagling, but Lucas managed to get the shirt entirely off of Sicheng. He wrinkled his nose and tossed it into the corner. He turned back to Sicheng, who was taking unsteady steps towards the actual shower. “Hey, wait.” 

Sicheng stopped and turned to look at Lucas, expectantly. 

“Do you need any more help? You’re still wearing clothes.” 

“I might.” Sicheng admitted. “But there are bars in the stall, yes? I think it’ll be fine.” 

That sounded good to Lucas, who shot Sicheng a thumbs up. Sicheng smiled faintly, before returning the gesture. Lucas was doing great so far. 

“Just yell if you need me.” Lucas said. Sicheng pulled the curtain forward and was gone from view. The shower turned on. Now what? 

Lucas walked back and forth in the room, before finding a wall to lean against. He sighed. More waiting. 

There was a humming coming from the shower. The voice was low, but pleasant, and whatever melody was being hummed was sweet and simple. Lucas closed his eyes. 

“Lucas?” Sicheng said. Lucas startled, before noticing the water had cut off at some point. “Towel?” 

Right. “Here.” Lucas said, sticking his hand past the curtain with the towel hanging off of it. He felt Sicheng grab it, and he retreated again. 

There was a pause. “Lucas?” Sicheng said again. “...Clothes?” 

Right! “What do you want first?” 

“Pants.” Sicheng said. “I’ll need help with the shirt.” 

He handed him the pants and waited. Sicheng came out, hair damp, and still half naked. Lucas kept his eyes laser focused on Sicheng’s face, but based on the bemused look Sicheng had, he could tell what Lucas was doing. “Shirt.” Lucas said, pulling it quickly over Sicheng’s head so he didn’t have to make eye contact anymore. 

Sicheng was clean and dressed, and it was time to get him back to the infirmary. Which was a bit of a bummer actually. Sicheng had a calming presence. 

“What were you singing?” Lucas asked, as Sicheng grabbed his arm to steady himself. 

“What?” Sicheng said. “Oh. A lullaby or nursery rhyme or something like that. From before.” 

“It was really pretty.” Lucas said, earnestly. “Are there words?” 

“Yes, but I can never remember the whole verse.” Sicheng looked bothered by this. 

“We can look it up!” Lucas said. “I’ll help you. I’m sure Google knows the song.” 

Sicheng smiled, and it was fantastic. What a good day. 

“Well, here we are.” Lucas said. He opened the door to the infirmary. 

“Sicheng!” Renjun said, mouth full of sandwich. He swallowed before continuing. “You can leave now.” That was aimed at Lucas. Ouch. 

“Renjun.” Sicheng said. “Be polite.” Renjun wrinkled his nose, before muttering out a low apology. He got out of the cot to help Sicheng into his, before grabbing a sandwich from the cart someone had brought in and giving it to Sicheng. 

“All set then?” Lucas said. “I’ll see you all tomorrow I guess.” 

“Yes.” Sicheng said. “Thank you for the help.” 

“Thank you.” Renjun said. 

 

“Move your feet before I break them.” 

“Is that any way to talk to your hyung?” Yuta said. Doyoung shot him an unimpressed look, and Yuta grinned, shifting his feet and letting Doyoung sit. 

“Jisungie! Long time no see. Come here so I can ruffle your hair.” Jaemin said. “I’m hurt, so you have to listen to me.” 

“It’s true.” Chenle said, nodding gravely. He squealed with delight when Jisung actually walked over, sitting next to Jaemin and allowing him to ruffle his hair. When Jaemin went to pinch his cheeks though, he slapped his hands away. 

“Chenle be polite.” Kun scolded. “Now do me a favor and dump this in Johnny’s drink.” 

Chenle took whatever was offered him, and as soon as Johnny left his chair to help Taeyong move food, he dropped it into his wine, reaching around an apathetic Yuta who watched and said nothing. Kun grinned. 

Ten and Jungwoo were locked in an animated conversation over Doyoung’s head, but Doyoung didn’t care much as he was busy glaring at Yuta, who had lifted his feet back up and dropped them into Doyoung’s lap as soon as he sat down. 

“Mark you’ve gotten so skinny!” Lucas said, grabbing Mark by the bicep and pulling him across the table. Mark flushed and tried to pull his arm back, but couldn’t. “This is because you never come train with us anymore, man! You’re becoming a desk worker.” 

Haechan snickered from his chair next to Mark. Mark shot a desperate look at Jeno to his left, but he nodded along with what Lucas was saying. “It’s the truth. Can you even throw a punch anymore?” Mark whined and ducked his head. Haechan patted him. 

“Food!” Johnny said. He carried out two plates, followed by Taeyong who carried more. “Mark why are you sitting? Grab plates.” 

“Yeah Mark.” Jeno said. He grabbed Mark by the shoulders, pushing him towards the kitchen. Mark stumbled on his way, and Haechan lost it. 

“Where’s Taeil?” Ten said. “And Jaehyun?” 

“Coming.” Taeyong said. “And bringing friends.” 

“Speak of the devil.” Kun said as the door swung open. 

“Sorry!” Taeil said. “Are we late?” By his side stood an anxious looking Renjun, and they were followed in by Jaehyun, who was supporting Sicheng. 

“Perfect timing.” Jungwoo said, grinning at the new arrivals. Jaemin stood up immediately, and used his good arm to push his chair over. 

“Renjun sit here.” He said. “Sungie, grab me a chair.” Jisung pulled a chair from the wall over, and crammed it between his and Jaemin’s, pleased to have a human shield. 

“Sicheng!” Kun said. “If you sit next to me you can be across from Renjun. And of course, you get to sit next to me!” Jeno scooted his chair over, grabbing a spare chair as well. Jaehyun helped Sicheng move over to the seat, lowering him carefully. Renjun hadn’t moved yet from his wary stance by Taeil, but when Sicheng was fully seated he rushed over to the spare chair, sitting down. 

Jaehyun slumped into a chair at the end of the table, opposite Taeyong’s seat, and Taeil snagged the one across from Haechan. It was always a bit mad when everyone came to dinner, and the long table was even fuller tonight. 

Mark set down his load, sitting in his chair again and sneaking a glance at Renjun. Jisung didn’t have the same amount of tact, and he was staring unashamedly at both of the brothers, switching occasionally. Kun had already started a conversation with Sicheng, who was slowly relaxing into it. Jaemin was having slightly less luck with Renjun, who was turning away occasionally to glare at Jisung. This did not deter Jisung from his staring, of course, but did annoy Jaemin at having Renjun’s attention scattered. 

Johnny sat, followed by Taeyong, who placed the last dish in the center of the table. “Everyone this is Renjun and Sicheng.” Johnny said. “Renjun, Sicheng, this is NCT.” 

“Yeah!” Lucas said. “Welcome to the party!” 

Renjun stared blankly at Lucas, before turning to look at Taeyong. “This is everyone?” 

“Not everyone.” Taeyong said. “But everyone who lives here, yes. This inner circle you could call it.” 

“But not the inner-inner circle.” Jaemin muttered low next to Renjun. Sicheng turned a curious look on him. 

“We’re glad to have you both.” Johnny said. Ten smiled from his seat across from Johnny and Renjun reflexively smiled back. “And we thought what better way to welcome you into our fold than dinner.” 

“Do you have dinner like this often?” Sicheng said, staring at the mountain of dishes in front of him. 

Johnny laughed. “Nah. Sometimes it’s nice though.” 

“I’m starving.” Chenle said. “The food looks amazing Boss.” 

Taeyong smiled faintly, pleased. “Let’s begin.” He said, taking out a lighter. Around the table people grabbed the hands of the person next to them, forming a large circle. Sicheng allowed Jeno and Kun to take his hands with no complaint, while Renjun hesitated before relenting, taking Jisung and Jaemin’s hands. 

Taeyong reached forward to light the large candle in the center of the table, before sitting and finished the circle with Johnny and Ten. As soon as Taeyong sat, everyone bowed their heads. Renjun and Sicheng made startled eye contact. There was a breath, and suddenly everyone let go and reached for plates, shouting over each other. 

Jungwoo leaned over to Renjun and Sicheng. “It’s tradition. We take a moment to be grateful everyone is here. Don’t worry about it too much.” 

Jeno piled meat onto Jaemin’s plate, then passed the whole dish over Sicheng to Kun, who handed it to Yuta. Yuta dumped half the dish onto his plate before setting it down. Kun wrinkled his nose. Doyoung put a large scoop of carrots onto Ten’s plate, who scraped them onto Johnny’s plate as soon as Doyoung turned away. Jaehyun and Lucas counted down from three before wolfing down a bowl of rice each, Jaehyun letting out a triumphant shout when he finished his first. 

“What do you want?” Kun asked Sicheng in Mandarin. Sicheng looked at him, surprised. “You don’t need permission or anything. Just take whatever you want.” 

“Are there rice noodles?” Sicheng asked. 

“Down by Taeyong I think.” Kun said. Then, in Korean, “Ten pass the rice noodles.” 

“Here!” Ten said. He passed them down and Kun handed the bowl to Sicheng. 

“Thank you.” Sicheng said. He served himself a plate full. 

Johnny stood up. “Kun what did you do to my drink.” 

“What makes you think I did anything?” Kun said, mock horrified. Chenle giggled, and Johnny gestured towards him. Kun sighed. “I’m trying out a new way of distilling vodka. You have the highest tolerance.” 

“Oh well in that case.” Johnny said, before downing his glass. Lucas cheered and suddenly wine was being passed around. 

“Not you, Jaehyun.” Taeil said, holding the bottle out of his reach. “You’re technically on guard duty right now.” Jaehyun whined, grabbing for the bottle again before giving up when Taeil glared at him. 

“Excuse me.” Sicheng said. The table quieted as everyone turned to look at him. “May I ask a question?” 

“Go ahead.” Taeyong said, gesturing wide with one arm. 

Sicheng took a breath. “When me and Renjun are healthy, you said you would find us jobs here, yes?” Taeyong nodded. “What jobs?” 

Johnny frowned. “We aren’t really sure yet. It’ll depend on what you have an affinity for and an interest it. This is all stuff to talk about later though, don’t worry about it right-” 

“Does NCT work in prostitution?” Renjun said, interrupting Johnny. Sicheng shot him a warning look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” 

“It’s fine.” Taeyong said. “And yes, we do.” 

“I don’t want to do that.” Renjun said, making eye contact with Taeyong. “Sicheng doesn’t either.” 

“Don’t worry!” Jungwoo said, catching Sicheng and Renjun’s attention. “That isn’t an option, I promise.” 

Sicheng blinked. “I don’t think we’ve met?” 

“Hi!” Jungwoo said. He shot an arm out towards Sicheng, nearly clothes-lining Kun. “I’m Jungwoo. I’m the head of prostitution, and we don't want you. No offense!” He added quickly. “We just don’t deal with trafficking. Or trafficking victims. Or any of that I guess.” Sicheng took his outstretched arm and gave it a shake. 

“You guess?” Renjun said. Jungwoo turned a smile on him and Renjun lost some of his edge. 

“He knows.” Doyoung said. Renjun turned to look at Doyoung, and their gazes met. Renjun nodded. He shot a glance towards Sicheng and they locked eyes. The table was quiet. 

“Well.” Sicheng said finally. “Good. I need chopsticks.” 

The tension broke. Mark handed his unused pair over without comment and got up to grab a new pair. Ten swung an arm over Doyoung’s shoulders and stole a piece of meat off his plate. Taeyong looked over the table. 

“Let’s eat.”


	20. Taeil, Johnny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HEY! So I'm pretty sure Friday updates are just going to be the norm now. Don't worry though! This will have an ending I swear to all that is holy. This is a lighter chapter again, next week we'll check back into the plot.
> 
> Also happy end of finals week for anyone whose schedule lined up with mine. All my finals smashed so I'm pretty pleased.
> 
> Dedicated to Mamamoo's performance at MAMA.
> 
> ...and also NCT doing stuff I guess. BUT MOSTLY MAMAMOO they destroyed my life.
> 
> Everyone go eat some Latkes they're good for the soul.

“You’ve gained 2 pounds!” Taeil said, marking it down on his clipboard. “A few more and you’ll be safely out of the underweight zone.” 

Sicheng stared at the number in front of him, and Taeil felt a slow wave of concern building. Renjun shifted in the chair he was sitting in, and Taeil thought he looked anxious, which did nothing to calm Taeil’s nerves. Slowly, however, a small smile spread across Sicheng’s face and Taeil and Renjun both deflated. 

“About a pound a week is all we can usually expect.” Taeil said. “And with how sick you both were for the first three days or so I was afraid you would lose weight. So this is really good news.” 

“Yes.” Sicheng said. He lifted his hands to his face and traced over his sharp cheek bones. Renjun got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around Sicheng in a back hug. 

"How much longer until he’s at weight?” Renjun asked. 

“Well, it’s been 10 days and we’ve done 2.” Taeil said. “So maybe 6 weeks or so? Of course then we have to work at keeping it on, but-” 

“6 weeks?” Renjun said, interrupting Taeil. “That long?” 

Taeil looked at his notes, but the numbers didn’t magically change. “It’s really not that long, I promise. Sicheng is in no danger.” 

“Renjun it’s your turn.” Sicheng said, turning to face him, and interrupting whatever it was he was about to say. Renjun sulked momentarily, before stepping out of his slippers and onto the scale. Taeil smiled gratefully at Sicheng and turned to check the number. 

“119. Technically in the safe zone.” Taeil said. “Of course, it’d be better for you to gain some weight too, but I’m pleased.” 

“What was I when I got here?” Renjun asked, tracing over the electric display. 

“118.” Taeil said. “You’re both headed in the right direction.” 

“Cool.” Renjun said. He hopped off the scale and stepped back into his shoes. “Breakfast now, yes?” 

“Yes.” Taeil said. 

Renjun grinned and grabbed Sicheng’s hand, who humored him and allowed himself to be pulled towards the door. Since the family dinner 5 days ago, Renjun and Sicheng had both been eating in the kitchen, though they still spent most of their time in the infirmary, mostly for lack of anywhere better for them to be. 

Taeil needed to remember to talk to Taeyong about getting them actual rooms. Neither of them needed constant monitoring at this point, so there was no reason for them to be stuck in here. They didn’t even have guard shifts anymore. 

Taeil followed the boys to the kitchen, and saw Johnny at the stove, flipping something over in a pan. 

“Hey Taeil!” Johnny said. “I’m making potato pancakes.” 

Oh bless the Lord. “I love potato pancakes.” Taeil said, stepping closer to the stove without noticing. 

Johnny grinned. “I know.” 

“Potato pancakes?” Sicheng asked. He also was close to the stove, and was staring at the pan with wonder on his face. They did smell pretty fantastic. 

“You’ll love them.” Johnny said, using his free arm to ruffle Sicheng’s hair. Sicheng blinked, before nodding and walking over to sit with Renjun at the kitchen table. Renjun had found an apple from somewhere and was making short work of it. 

“My neighbor back when I lived in the States was German.” Johnny said. “And she used to make these when she babysat me. This was before Jisung was even alive.” 

“Jisung?” Renjun asked. “The young one?” 

Taeil snorted. ‘The young one’ as if Renjun himself wasn’t young. He snuck a glance at Johnny, who was looking back at him, also amused. 

“Yeah.” Johnny said. “We’re half-brothers. Same father.” 

“That’s nice.” Sicheng said. “That you’re here together.” 

“Yeah, he’s a brat but he’s great.” 

Taeil didn’t miss the glance Sicheng shot at Renjun, who was done with his apple and was staring intently at Johnny’s back, waiting with chopsticks in hand. 

“Hey kiddo how many pancakes do you want?” Johnny was greeted with silence, so he turned away from the stove to address Renjun more directly. “Two? Four? More?” 

Renjun startled lightly at being addressed. Apparently ‘kiddo’ wasn’t under his list of approved titles. “Uh. Four?” 

Johnny grinned. “Sounds good.” He finished the one he was on, stacking four together onto a plate and sliding it in front of Renjun, who dug in the second it was in front of him. 

Renjun paused in his eating, though, and turned to look at Sicheng. He gestured questioningly at the plate in front of him, and Sicheng came over, picking up a pair of chopsticks and taking a bit for himself. He chewed slowly, as he always did, and smiled afterwards. Renjun smiled back at him and went back to eating. Cute. 

“Am I getting some anytime soon?” Taeil asked. Johnny turned an unimpressed look on him, and Taeil rolled his eyes. Yes of course feed Renjun and Sicheng first, but do feed Taeil as well please. He should have left that bullet in Johnny’s thigh 3 years ago. 

Jaemin came into the room, arm in a sling, and grinned broadly when he saw who was in the kitchen. Jisung trailing behind him however paused at the sight of the brothers. Taeil wondered how often Jisung had been around the brothers besides the family dinner. He didn’t come to the infirmary, but he had been around the base. 

“Renjun!” Jaemin said, rushing over to where he was sitting. He reached over Renjun to grab a piece of the pancake on his plate, but Renjun smacked his hand sharply. Sicheng, sitting next to Renjun, watched this happen with a cautious eye, but didn’t say anything. Jaemin laughed it off and smiled at Sicheng in greeting, before going over to bother Johnny. Johnny had better not feed Jaemin before Taeil or Taeil was going to riot. 

Jisung came over to sit at the table, avoiding eye contact with Renjun. “What is Johnny making?” 

“Potato pancakes.” Renjun said, after a short hesitation. “They’re good.” 

“Yeah I love when he makes those.” Jisung said, braving eye contact this time. “I tried to help once, but it didn’t go very well.” Johnny snorted, loudly and Taeil sighed. That was a slight understatement. 

“Here.” Johnny said, handing Taeil a plate. On it sat two small pancakes each topped with applesauce. “Sicheng can probably handle this, yes?” 

Taeil nodded, appreciating as always Johnny’s thoughtful nature, and carried the plate over to Sicheng. “Here you go!” He said, trying for a casual air. Sicheng was still weird about eating around people, and he hoped Jaemin and Jisung wouldn’t cause problems. 

Sicheng took the plate, using his chopsticks to break the pancake into smaller pieces. It was pretty impressive actually. Taeil always just used scissors for pancakes. Sicheng caught him staring, and Taeil flushed before looking away. Johnny of course saw this whole interaction and was silently laughing at Taeil’s expense. 

“Me next, right?” Jaemin said. “I’m still injured.” 

“Absolutely not.” Taeil said sharply. 

“Sorry Jaemin, Taeil has been waiting longer.” 

Jaemin whined and dropped his head onto the table. Renjun took a break from destroying his meal to send him a judgmental look. Sicheng was far too polite for things like that, which Taeil appreciated. He would hate to feel like he was being judged by a teenager. 

“So how old are you?” Jisung asked. Renjun frowned and looked over at Sicheng. 

“He’s 19.” Sicheng said. 

“Right.” Renjun said, slightly embarrassed. “Sorry, it’s kind of hard to keep track.” 

“No no!” Jisung said, lifting his hands. “It’s fine! That’s cool. You’re only a couple years older than me.” 

“What do you do here?” Sicheng said, taking another tiny bite of his food. “I think you’re the youngest person I’ve seen around here?” 

“I work with the drug runners.” Jisung said, gaining the edge of cockiness Taeil always associated with him. “They respond better to me since they’re closer to my age. I get to map out distribution lines and block out territories and do all kinds of planning. I’m a pretty big deal.” 

Sicheng nodded with his traditional polite interest, but quickly brought a bite up to his mouth, not entirely masking the small smile. Cute. Cute cute cute. 

A plate of food appeared under his nose. Startled, he almost knocked it out of Johnny’s hand when he jumped. 

“Woah.” Johnny said, placing a steadying hand on Taeil’s shoulder. “Just food. Here you go.” 

“Thanks.” Taeil said, embarrassed. The food looked amazing. God bless Johnny’s cooking honestly. Taeyong was a wonderful cook but everything tended towards balanced and healthy. Johnny once made a four cheese baked macaroni and cheese dish, topping it with barbeque pulled pork. Everyone gained a pound. 

He sat, and watched Jisung attempt a continued conversation with Sicheng, and Jaemin hassling Renjun. He ate. 

 

“We’re ready to run tests on the drugs we developed based on our new friends blood work.” Kun said. “We just need some people to drug.” 

“Easy enough.” Taeyong said. “I’ll pass that on to SM and you’ll get your subjects. Anything else?” 

Kun shifted in his chair. “I think it’s time to throw in the towel with the glasswear from the lab. It’s clean.” 

Damn. “Fine. Not your fault. Get back to work.” 

“Yes boss.” Kun said, rising. He dropped into a shallow bow and left Taeyong’s office. Taeyong turned to Johnny in the corner. 

“Big Bang is being quiet.” Johnny said. “I’m getting antsy.” 

“I’m glad you said it, so I can pretend I’m perfectly calm.” Taeyong said. It’d been about a week since Jisung had found the trashed drug lab, and the streets had been eerily calm. All of Jisung’s head runners were checking in regularly and reported no problems. It was like no one knew about the lab. 

“You letting Jisung leave anytime soon?” Johnny said. 

Taeyong considered. “He’ll rebel if I don’t.” Johnny snorted, but didn’t disagree. Taeyong was right. “I don’t see any immediate danger. I think he should be allowed to go check in with his runners. Otherwise they might get antsy.” 

“I agree.” Johnny said. “Jisung can handle himself. I’ll let him know then?” 

Taeyong nodded. “Go for it. I need to call Irene. I think they had a recent raid. They should be able to send us some people for Kun to have fun with.” 

“Have fun.” Johnny said. He wandered out in search of Jisung.


	21. Yuta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday everyone! And happy day before day before day before day before Christmas! Have some plot.
> 
> A couple of little cameos in this chapter that I thought would be fun. I don't really stan, but I love their recent single, so here they are! Which uh, is not a great thing actually. No one in this universe is happy oops.
> 
> Anyway! Dedicated to the behind the scenes video for Candlelight that just dropped. My MarkRen, RenHyuck, and RenMin heart lost it's shit. No I don't have a bias what are you talking about.
> 
> And dedicated to our wonderful Hyuckie! Get well soon baby!

“Fuck!” Yuta said. “Where are you?” 

“Um.” Jungwoo’s voice was soft over the phone. “I’m not sure. I’ll ping it on the map. Calm down.” 

“Calm down?” Yuta said. “Nevermind. Just ping it. I’ll be right there.” 

Jungwoo hung up and Yuta went to the shared map app, refreshing it repeatedly until the pin Jungwoo placed appeared. He was already at his car when the pin appeared, and he hopped in quickly, driving out of the compound and breaking nearly every traffic law possible on his fast-paced run towards Jungwoo. Luckily Jungwoo was close, and soon he was parking. He was in a relatively populated residential city street, which meant lots and lots of places Jungwoo could be. He decided it would probably be easier to call him back, so he did. 

“Hello?” Jungwoo’s voice. He, of course, sounded incredibly unhurried, and so soft Yuta had to strain to understand him. 

Yuta paused, sure Jungwoo would continue, but instead silence greeted him. “Where are you?” Yuta ground out, trying not to sound aggravated. 

“Right! We can come out to you.” 

“Is that a good idea?” Yuta said, glancing around. There was enough foot traffic that he wasn’t worried about looking suspicious. 

“It’s fine. Sit tight.” Jungwoo said, right before the line went dead again. Yuta stared at his phone for a second, before cussing under his breath. He pulled himself up onto the roof of his car and waited. He didn’t need to wait long, as pretty quickly Jungwoo appeared, followed by two girls with large coats and bare legs. 

“YT!” Jungwoo said, pushing onto his toes to place a kiss on Yuta’s cheek. “Thanks for the pickup. These are my friends Yena and Yuri.” Both girls regarded Yuta with wary eyes, before Jungwoo placed a hand on each of their shoulders, pushing them towards the car. “Let’s go somewhere else, shall we?” 

Yuta hopped down and back into the drivers seat. Jungwoo slid into shotgun, leaving the girls to climb into the back. Yuta angled his rear view mirror down to look at the girls. Their knuckles were white there they held hands. He angled his mirror back at the window and pulled out. 

They drove out of the city, heading to a relatively nearby safehouse. The drive was silent, as Jungwoo dozed off as soon as the car started moving. When they pulled up to the building, Yuta lifted a hand and pushed Jungwoo’s shoulder, who rolled his neck and raised his arms in a languid stretch. He turned to look at the girls in the back and smiled at them. Yuta left him to it and hopped out of the car. 

The safehouse itself was nothing to write home about. Just a small abandoned building, seemingly empty on the inside besides the dust, though Yuta knew it was full of the highest security they could design. He pulled his gun out of his pocket and started polishing it, hoping he looked suitably menacing so he could balance out Jungwoo’s absolute refusal to intimidate people. 

“So.” Jungwoo said, after he had herded both the girls out of the car. They stood in front of Yuta. One of them was watching him clean the gun, but the other didn’t let her eyes waver from Yuta’s face. Interesting. 

“So.” Yuta said. 

“So!” Jungwoo said. “Yena and Yuri worked for Big Bang, but things got a little messy and they found me.” 

“And what do ‘Yena and Yuri’ want then?” 

“Protection.” One of them said. Yuta was surprised, and shot a quick glance at her. “Big Bang did something, I have no idea what, but we’re getting caught in the cross fire.” 

Jungwoo made a sympathetic noise. “That sounds awful.” 

"But not really like our problem.” Yuta said. 

"Everyone knows you help people who need it.” The first girl insisted. 

That wasn’t entirely true. Sure, they had helped some individuals over the years, and yes of course whenever they got a hit about a trafficking trade they made sure to pass the info over to the police, but they weren’t exactly Bat...men over here. 

“There’s a rumor you have some of Big Bangs old property.” The second girl said, looking up through her lashes. “We have information about Big Bang. If you help up, you get information about Big Bang, and Big Bang doesn’t get information about you. Win-Win.” 

Jungwoo let out a short laugh before smothering it. Yuta shot a glare at him, but Jungwoo was unphased. “Sorry, I’m just impressed.” 

“Big Bang is in deep shit. I don’t want to be there when it all falls apart.” The second girl said. 

“What’s your names again?” Yuta said. 

“I’m Yuri.” The first girl said, “And that’s Yena.” 

“Are you going to help us?” Yena said. 

Yuta paused a minute, letting the tension build, before putting his gun away and grinning wide. “Why of course.” 

Both girls deflated. Jungwoo smiled, content from his post behind them. “Ok. Ok that’s good.” 

“What kind of information do you have?” Yuta said. 

Yuri winced. “Nothing major, honestly. I can tell you where we checked in with the higher ups, and I can tell you the routes we followed. But really the two of us just turned tricks.” 

“It’s a noble art form.” Jungwoo said. “Though often some of the earlier casualties.” 

“We’re more interested in what’s been going on now.” Yuta said. “Why did you decide to jump ship?” 

“Honestly, we’d been thinking of it for a while.” Yena said. “Big Bang was fine for us, but I always knew about the trafficking. And then when people started saying NCT had some property of Big Bang, and that property was people? It wasn’t great.” 

“Who is talking about that?” Jungwoo said. “And is it common knowledge?” 

“At this point, probably.” Yuri said. “I heard it from a drug runner. Lord knows who she heard it from.” 

“Well fuck.” Yuta said lightly. “What have you heard about the, uh, ‘property’?” 

“Just that it’s people.” Yuri said. “2 of them. And that they were house boys.” 

“Someone told me that you had killed them and buried them in the desert.” Yena said. “I didn’t buy it, but that’s also going around.” 

“Honestly, better people think that.” Jungwoo said. “I wonder if we can spread some rumors of our own?” 

“What do you mean?” Yuta said. 

“Well.” Jungwoo said. “This waiting game with Big Bang hasn’t been thrilling. Maybe we can lure them out into the open.” 

“I’m not sure.” Yena said, doubtful. “Big Bang is on high alert right now. Even we were warned of potential messes.” 

“Which is why you found me!” Jungwoo said, smiling. 

“Someone told me that one of the boys you took was a favorite.” Yuri said. “Like, a ‘sleep in the bosses bed every night’ kind of favorite.” 

“Who said that?” Yuta said. That sounded like insider knowledge more than just rumors. 

“A friend. I’d need a guarantee of safety for her before I told you anything besides that.” 

“Yes of course.” Yuta said, impatient. “Who. And where can we find her?” 

“Her name is Eunbi.” Yuri said. “We report to her. I’ll show you where we were supposed to meet her tomorrow for a check in.” 

“That sounds absolutely perfect.” Jungwoo said, clapping his hands. “I’m getting a little sick of this safe house though. Mind if we change locations? I have an apartment nearby and we'll have some friends meet us there to talk some more.” 

Yuri and Yena both paused and looked at each other, before nodding. “Let’s go.”


	22. Jeno, Lucas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops! I forgot the day of the week because I am dumb.
> 
> Here you go though! It's a shorty but it sets us up for next chapter. Enjoy the continued cameo of Izone, who won best new artist I think at one of the shows? Good for them.
> 
> Dedicated to Jisung dancing with Kai. It was way too short but it still made my heart race A++++

“What?” Jaemin said, staring at Jeno. “No.” 

“Jaemin-ah,” Jeno sighed, but the second he opened his mouth again he was cut off. 

“You aren’t going out without me.” 

“I’m not really going out.” Jeno said. He loaded bullets into the chamber of his gun. “This is barely even a mission.” 

“I don’t care.” Jaemin said, walking over and taking the gun out of Jeno’s hands. Jeno made to grab it back, but Jaemin moved quickly out of range and switched the gun to his bad arm. Shit. Jeno couldn’t risk hurting him. 

“Come on, Nana.” Jeno said. He stayed where he was, letting Jaemin create space. “I’ll be with Yuta. We’re meeting up with a prostitute.” 

“Do you think that makes it better?” Jaemin said. “Jungwoo is terrifying.” 

Jeno couldn’t argue with that. “You and Lucas are important to this. It’s not like you’re being left out.” 

“We’re partners.” Jaemin said. “We work together.” 

Jeno felt himself getting a little frustrated, and tried to tamp it down. “Jaemin give me my gun.” 

“No.” Jaemin said. 

“Jaemin.” 

“No!” 

Jeno slammed a hand against the wall, and they both flinched from the noise. Jeno shook off the surprise, and ignored the look on Jaemin’s face. “You’re acting like a child.” 

“I don’t care.” Jaemin said earnestly. “I don’t want you in the field without me.” 

“Just spend the day with Renjun.” Jeno said, crossing over to Jaemin. Jaemin darted out of reach, keeping his eyes on Jeno at all times. Both of them had the same training, so it was hard to outsmart each other. “Clearly that’s how you enjoy spending your time now.” 

Jaemin paused. “What?” 

Jeno rolled his eyes, annoyed at Jaemin’s fake ignorance. “Nothing.” He went to leave the room. He had plenty of other guns. 

“Wait.” Jaemin said, crossing to Jeno. “What about Renjun? Seriously.” 

“You just spend a lot of time with him.” Jeno said. He felt Jaemin put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine if you have like a crush or something. I just don’t feel like I see you as much anymore.” 

“Jeno.” Jaemin said. Jeno turned to look at him and his eyes were wide. “Jeno. First of all, I don't have a crush on Renjun. I do like him.” He admitted. “He’s scrappy and cute. But you come first. We’ve known each other forever. Jeno.” Jaemin said, when Jeno had to break eye contact. “I am bedridden a lot of the time, remember. You could visit me more.” 

Jeno considered that. Renjun was scrappy and cute. Jeno liked him too, though he wasn’t in the habit of admitting when he liked people; case in point, Jisung and his never ending quest to fuck with each other. And yes, it was true that Jeno had found himself avoiding Jaemin’s room a lot more recently than he ever had before. It just made him uncomfortable to walk in and see him when he had noticed how much time Jaemin spent coaxing Renjun into trying new things or wandering the halls with him (to be fair, Sicheng was generally always there as well. They were still nearly inseperable.) 

“Ok.” Jeno said quietly. “I believe you. Can this argument be over.” 

Jaemin grinned, bright as if they hadn’t just fought. “Yeah.” 

“Good. My gun?” 

“Yeah sure.” Jaemin said, handing it over. Jeno grinned back and took it, before bee lining towards the door. Jaemin would remember the start of their fight soon enough, and he wanted to be on the road already when that happened. 

 

“I’m Lucas!” Lucas said. “This is Jaemin. We’re really nice.” 

Jaemin pouted in his chair. Lucas glanced at him, then at the girl they were guarding (Yuri sounded right, but he would try to avoid saying her name out loud. Just in case.) 

“Right.” Yuri said, looking between the two. “How long do you think this will take?” 

“Well.” Lucas said. “Your friend and some of my friends are gonna go talk to your source, and then come right back. So probably not long.” 

“And I wait here as insurance.” Yuri said. “So that if Yena thought about leading your ‘friends’ into a trap, she would think of me and think better.” 

That was correct, but Lucas would have preferred she not said it. "Uh, yeah.” 

Yuri kicked her feet up onto the chair next to her. “Eunbi is great.” 

“Eunbi is...?” 

“The source.” Yuri said, shooting Lucas a wry smile. 

Shit. “Yes.” 

Yuri snorted. From his chair, and somehow without changing his expression, so did Jaemin. Lucas felt himself flush. What could he do to take the attention off of him? 

“So what do you do?” Lucas said. Yuri and Jaemin shot him identical looks of disbelief, so he guessed that was common knowledge and also a bust. Lucas was really good at talking to people normally. He had a ‘charming’ air about him, or so he had been told before by both Jungwoo and Ten, and they were some of the most charming people he knew so they had to be right. Well. Charming was one word for Jungwoo, one that Lucas would definitely use, but not necessarily one that everyone would use. 

The phone rang. Lucas sent a short blessing up above and answered it. “Yeah?” 

“We’re headed back now.” Said Jeno’s voice, tinny over the phone connection. “Can you put Jaemin on?” 

“Sure. Is everything OK?” 

“It’s all good.” Jeno said. “A little frustrating. We’ll all talk later I’m sure.” 

“Cool.” Lucas said, before handing the phone over as he was bid. He was rewarded with a brilliant smile as soon as Jaemin heard who was on the phone. Lucas went to stand with Yuri, giving Jaemin some space. Sure enough, he was gesturing dramatically just a minute later while talking into the phone, and Lucas was safely out of the range of his arms. 

Everyone would be back soon. That was good enough for now.


	23. Mark, Chenle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'all what a week this has been. I'm super sleepy right now so just have a chapter and enjoy.
> 
> Dedicated to the 00's being adults cause that shit is beautiful. Life bar please I'm begging you SM.

“That’s unsettling.” Taeyong said. “Interesting that they haven’t gone through with it though.” 

Mark was quiet, watching. It was still rare for him to be allowed in on meetings between inner circle members, but since Jeno had been there when the information had been uncovered, and he inevitably passed it on to Jaemin, who gave it to Jisung, who passed it to Chenle, it was hard to justify keeping anyone out of the loop. 

“A direct attack on our base is risky.” Johnny said. 

“We did it to them though.” Yuta interjected. 

“Yeah and we were successful. That’s threatening to them.” 

“This seems like an awful lot of work for one person.” Ten said. “No offense meant to Sicheng of course, I’m just surprised.” 

“I’m surprised we didn’t know that Sicheng was the bonified favorite.” Yuta said. “You’d think it would have come up at some point or the other.” 

Taeil cleared his throat, pausing the flow of conversation. “I knew he was favored, though not to this extent. Him and Renjun used to talk about it when they were still in the infirmary.” 

Johnny sighed. “Not that it’s helpful anyway.” Mark, quietly, thought differently. According to Eunbi, their mysterious source, G Dragon favored Sicheng enough that he wanted to launch a raid on NCT to retrieve him. This apparently wasn’t a popular opinion among the gang, as the risk level would be very high, which meant the possibility for infighting among Big Bang. That was useful. 

“Maybe we could use this to our advantage.” Yuta mused. “I don’t want to use Sicheng as bait or anything, but maybe we could spread rumors that we’re moving him and Renjun to a different location. Try to draw Big Bang out from wherever they ducked away.” 

“I’m a fan.” Kun said. He had been silent up to now, which hadn’t surprised Mark much. Both him and Taeil were incredibly specialized in their fields, and they both tended to hyperfocus themselves out of reality during political meetings like this. “I’m sick of chasing after this drug.” 

Mark had just written his third report in as many days detailing a failed attempt at tracking Love Scenario. Every time they seemed to get a hint of it, it disappeared. It was like a ghost drug. Mark snorted. Ghost drug. He looked up and Taeyong was staring dead at him. “Something to add, Mark?” 

Shit. “Nothing.” 

“Opinion of rumors?” 

Mark swallowed. “Well,” he started. “I think rumors could be very useful. It’s how we’ve been tracking Love Scenario, even if we haven’t managed to get a sample yet.” He paused and thought for a second. “Eunbi said that G Dragon doesn’t have the full support of his group right now on going after Sicheng. So if we could convince him to follow a rumor, we might even get him alone, or with a limited guard.” 

“Reasonable.” Taeyong said. “Though if we did get G Dragon without a guard and took him out, his team would continue to function I’m sure. I’d really rather find a way to track him to his source.” 

“People talk under pressure.” Ten said. “I’m sure someone would be willing to point us in the right direction with the right motivation.” 

“Also reasonable.” Taeyong said. “Ten, you are the closest to the streets. Work with Jungwoo and Jisung and start spreading a rumor that we’ll be moving Sicheng and Renjun to the safehouse on 24th street.” 

Ten snorted. “Does Jisung still have a guard with him every time he leaves the house.” 

“Yes.” Yuta said, grinning. “Yes he does.” 

“I’ll get on that.” Ten said, standing up. Mark guessed that was the end of this discussion then, but he didn’t want to risk moving. He had done well earlier when Taeyong called on him, and he wanted to ride that high for a little while. Better safe than sorry always. 

 

“And then I said ‘Jisung you’re too tall how am I supposed to help?’ and then Jisung said ‘let me sit’ and then I was like ‘but I think the tinsel looks good in your hair’ and then Jisung looked at me all suspicious and was like ‘Chenle, did Haechan put this in my hair?’ and then I knew I was found out so I ran.” Chenle finished his dramatic retelling, flopping down onto the base of Renjun’s bed. “And now I’m here and hiding.” 

Sicheng and Renjun shared a quick look. “What a day you’ve had.” Sicheng finally said, after a pause. 

“I know!” Chenle said, sitting back up. He swung one arm wildly out in front of him. Sicheng ducked, and Renjun ended up getting smacked on the shoulder. Chenle froze after he noticed what he had done. “Oh no!” Chenle said, scooching his butt across the bed. He went to grab Renjun’s shoulder. “Did I hurt you?” Chenle felt terrible about that. He was so focused on Renjun’s shoulders that he didn’t have time to react when an arm snacked itself around his neck and then suddenly he was in a choke hold. 

“You little brat.” Renjun said, pulling tight. Chenle panicked and grabbed at Renjun’s arms, before flailing some more and hitting him in the face. Renjun oofed and recoiled, letting Chenle escape. Chenle immediately made towards the exit, before he was tackled from behind. He screamed, before he was flipped on his back and a pillow was shoved in his face. He kicked out but couldn’t seem to make contact with Renjun. At least, he thought it was Renjun. He’d be pretty surprised if it was Sicheng. 

Sicheng’s calm voice cut through the chaotic atmosphere. “Jisung, hello.” 

Not Jisung! Chenle managed to dislodge Renjun and looked frantically at the door, but it was still closed. Confused, he looked towards Sicheng who had grabbed Renjun by the back of his shirt and was hauling him back onto the bed. Didn’t he say....? 

Oh. He just got played. Sicheng was now poking around at the beginnings of a bruise sprouting on Renjun’s forehead. Sneaky sneaky. Chenle loved this guy. He crawled up onto the bed and inserted himself in between the two brothers, squirming around until he was comfortable. Renjun let out a half hearted protest, but settled down quickly enough. Sicheng shifted until he could place a hand on Chenle’s head, and he stroked his hair a couple of times before settling back down. Chenle smiled. A nap sounded great right now.


	24. Jisung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this today, so I didn't really proofread. So if anything is like tragic let me know and I'll give it a little fix.
> 
> I moved this week! It's been so crazy and I had like no time to write so I'm glad I had time today to pound this out. The plot will return next week but I wanted something a little 'feel-good.' 
> 
> I really want to include our newbies in this fic, but like the only way I could think to work them in would be people working under either Ten (in gambling), Jisung (in drug running), or Jungwoo (in prostitution). Or like people Sicheng and Renjun knew back in the day which would be bad. So we'll see. 21 characters is so many fucking characters and I already feel like I'm neglecting people. Like Haechan. He needs a chapter soon. (Also since I started writing this I started thinking of him as Donghyuck so now it's kind of weird idk)
> 
> ANYWAY!!! Dedicated to the WayV teasers which are so good?? And also dedicated to the NCT Dream puff video that just got released. Renjun screamed and squeezing the shit out of Jeno made me laugh.
> 
> Enjoy!

Chenle was so loud sometimes. It always surprised Jisung how he could be so loud and cheerful literally constantly, when Jisung himself needed a nap after every interaction he had with someone. Case in point, right now Chenle was excitedly ‘helping’ Sicheng make hotpot. Neither of them had ever made it before, but Sicheng at least was calmly reading the directions. Chenle was not. 

“I’m so excited!” Chenle said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Sicheng handed him a plate with tofu on it, with the instructions to ‘cut this into cubes.’ Jisung saw this ending very badly, but Chenle looked thrilled to be helping so he said nothing. He pulled out his phone with the intention of playing a game, but his attention kept being pulled back up to the cooking happening in front of him. It was just so interesting watching Sicheng take each ingredient aside and read carefully how to prepare it. 

It had started a few days ago with Sicheng finding Johnny and asking him if he could make hot pot as a surprise for Renjun, who apparently deserved a surprise. Johnny had thought that was adorable and pretty soon the fridge was full of ingredients and Sicheng had a recipe book. Jisung and Chenle had been sitting in the kitchen earlier this morning talking about a movie when Sicheng had wandered in, about an hour ago, and started taking things out of the fridge. Chenle had wanted to help and the rest was history. 

“Jisung?” Sicheng’s voice broke Jisung out of his daze. He looked up to see Sicheng staring at him and holding out a plate. “Could you put this on the table? I think it can sit a while.” Jisung nodded and took the plate, placing it on the table. The plate had mushrooms, cut into small rough pieces. They were beautifully arranged on the plate, but the cuts themselves were uneven and inconsistent. Sicheng had a small pleased smile on his face though, so Jisung held his tongue (something he was not great at doing, and everyone should be very impressed that he managed.) Task done, he wandered over to where Chenle was cutting tofu. Or, should he say, crushing tofu. Chenle looked up at Jisung’s approach and flushed lightly. 

“It’s hard.” He said, a slight whine in his voice. Jisung pinched his cheek and took the knife from him. He went to work cutting the remaining tofu into cubes, larger ones than someone who was better than him could probably manage, but ones that were passable. And he didn’t crush the tofu into mush as he did it either. He felt Chenle place his head on his shoulder and tried not to stumble under the sudden audience. 

“Are we cooking?” Yuta’s voice said from the doorway. Jisung looked over in time to see Sicheng nick his finger, distracted by the sudden entry. He hissed lightly, staring down as the cut started to bleed. “Oh shit.” Yuta said, crossing the room to Sicheng. He grabbed his hand and examined it, before pulling him lightly by the wrist to the sink and putting his hand under a stream of water. “My bad.” 

“It’s fine.” Sicheng said. He took the soap Yuta handed him and washed his hands, before removing them from the stream. Jisung figured they had a handle on the situation, and went back to cutting. He could hear the murmured voices as Yuta wrapped Sicheng’s cut, but he was trying not to get himself cut as well so he stayed focused. 

“Jisung-ah you’re pretty good at this.” Chenle said, grabbing one of his cubes. He examined it from all angles dramatically, before deeming it acceptable and placing it back down. 

“Of course I am.” Jisung said. He paused to look at Chenle. “I’m surprised you aren’t. We’re surrounded by knives constantly.” 

“I’m great at measuring.” Chenle said. “And pouring and heating and stirring ad weighing. Kun doesn’t let me use the knives very often.” Jisung could think of several good reasons for that, but he said none of them. Truly his self-control was exemplary today. Why was no one else here to witness it? He heard someone begin to cut again, and looked over assuming Sicheng was all better. It was not, however, Sicheng cutting at the board but Yuta, who was doing a fantastic job of cutting meat incredibly thinly, while Sicheng himself was arranging fresh noodles into small bundles. Chenle perked up when he saw that, and ran over to him. Sicheng slowed down and showed him how he wrapped each bundle together, before giving some to Chenle for him to try. 

Jaehyun walked in the room, paused, and crossed to Yuta, who handed him a chunk of meat and a knife. Next was Lucas, who Sicheng pointed towards the large divided bowls on the counter and the bags of seasoning for the broth. The boss himself wandered in just a minute after that, which made Sicheng pause and stiffen. Jisung had noticed Sicheng and Renjun both still seemed uncertain around the boss. He tried not to think too much about it honestly. The boss looked around before asking Sicheng what he could do. Sicheng stared for a minute, and Jisung was a bit uncomfortable, before Johnny walked in and clapped the boss on the back. He looked around and asked Sicheng what the trickiest job was. Sicheng told him that he wasn’t sure how to separate egg yolks, and Johnny pushed the boss over to the fridge, where they got to work separating eggs. 

Jisung glanced down at his plate and noticed he was done, so he brought it over to Sicheng, who seemed to be in charge of arranging things. He was handed two plates in return and he carried them to the table, which was becoming quite full. 

“This is a surprise for Renjun, right?” Chenle asked. 

“Yes.” Sicheng responded. 

“Any occasion?” 

“No.” Sicheng said. “Not really. I just wanted to celebrate being here a month.” 

“A month?” Yuta said. “No way! Though I guess your roots are pretty bad right now.” He dropped a heavy hand on Sicheng’s head, who ducked out from under it and scooted across the room towards the table. Yuta laughed and Sicheng rolled his eyes, though he calmed quickly as he started arranging dishes. 

“The broth can come over here.” Sicheng said, turning on the hot plates on the table. Lucas lifted one large pot, as did Jaehyun, and they placed them where bid, each grabbing a second bowl as well and putting them down. “Now there are just these frozen fish balls, and utensils, and we’re done.” 

“I’ll text Jaemin and Jeno.” Yuta said. “Let them know to bring Renjun over.” 

“They’re in the second lounge with Haechan.” Sicheng said. “Watching some kids movies.” 

“Disney movies.” Chenle said earnestly. “You need to see them all too.” 

“Of course.” Sicheng said, smiling at Chenle. “I’ll watch one with you sometime this week.” 

“Fish balls!” Lucas said, bring a bowl over. “Still frozen though. That ok?” 

“The recipe said so.” Sicheng said. He took the bowl from Lucas and put it down on the table. Jisung thought the table looked beautiful, and wondered how quickly it would become a disaster once people started eating. It was absolutely covered in small plates of food and huge bowls of broth. 

The boss came over and handed Sicheng a plate full of chopsticks and small strainers, who took it with a quiet thank you. Johnny did plates while Sicheng distributed utensils and Yuta texted the group message to get down to the kitchen. 

Jeno walked into the room, followed by Jaemin who was walking backwards and holding Renjun’s hands, leading him forward. Behind Renjun was Haechan, who was holding his hands over Renjun’s eyes, though Jisung thought he could see a blindfold over them as well. Sicheng snorted when he saw them walk in, though he covered it quickly with a cough. 

“Are you ready?” Haechan said, dropping his hands to Renjun’s shoulders and rocking him from side to side. 

“Yes.” Renjun said. His voice was frustrated and Jisung caught himself smiling. 

“Are you sure?” 

Renjun pulled his hands out of Jaemin’s and ducked out from under Haechan’s hands, lifting his blindfold. He shot a glare at the three boys before turning and surveying the room. Jisung watched as he took everything in. Then Renjun’s eyes started to water and Jisung politely turned away. Ok, so Chenle turned him away. He still let him. A couple minutes and some teary hugs later, and Jisung was at a table learning how to eat hotpot from a Renjun who was invested in pointing out every mistake he made. It was fine though. It was fun. And it was fun to see Renjun and Sicheng so happy. Partially because of how happy it made Chenle of course, but also partially just... because. He really hoped this whole rumor thing worked out.


	25. Jeno, Kun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So how about that WayV debut. And that uh line distribution.
> 
> At least they all look pretty.
> 
> but like
> 
> SO WELCOME BACK! Have some plot. Dedicated to SMTOWN Chile even though I am not there. But they're gonna do Hair in the Air live so I'm kind of living.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Look alive, folks!” Yuta said, barreling into the room. “We got a hit on a potential Big Bang spot.” 

Jeno, who had been dozing, shot up, startled at the entrance. He glanced over and saw Lucas pulling a sheet of paper off of his face, so he guessed he wasn’t the only one out for the count. It’d been a long night last night. Jeno had been on Jisung duty, following him around as he made check in’s with all of the drug runners, and as he stopped at nearly every corner store to check for strawberry kit-kats. Lucas on the other hand had been up late purely of his own volition. He apparently had decided that now was the time to perfect his somewhat lacking Mandarin, and he had sat in Kun’s lab until late, just chatting with him and Chenle. Jeno knew this because Jisung had been texting Chenle, who was mercilessly making fun of Lucas every chance he got. 

“What’s happening?” Jeno said. He stood from his chair and stretched his arms up. 

“Tell you in the car.” Yuta said, grabbing a gun and checking it’s cartrige. “Let’s go. Jaehyun is waiting for us.” 

Lucas and Jeno loaded up and followed Yuta out the door. As soon as they made it to the car they piled into the back, leaving shotgun for Yuta as always. “So.” Jeno prompted. 

“The rumors we’ve been spreading seem to be doing something.” Yuta said, gesturing for Jaehyun to start driving. “We’ve had sightings of Big Bang members out and about. Minimal ones, but still. More activity than before.” 

“I was lucky.” Jaehyun said. “On a routine supply run I saw Taeyang out without him noticing me. I managed to follow him back to a building. It hasn’t been cased, but that’s our job.” 

“Just casing?” Lucas said. 

“Yes.” Yuta said. His voice left no room for doubts. “We’re just checking it out. We’ll come back later with more people if it’s where we want to be.” 

“Sounds good!” Lucas was always ready for any mission. Jeno was not looking forward to a few hours of telling him to crouch more, but such was life without his usual partner. Jaemin would be cleared soon. He was using his arm relatively freely now, and he only had one more check-in scheduled, so hopefully he’d be back in the field by the time they were ready to actually attack this base. 

Jeno missed having Jaemin at his side, watching his back. Not that Lucas wasn’t great of course, not to even mention Jaehyun and Yuta, but Jaemin and Jeno had been training together for years. Their chemistry was considered unmatched. It wouldn’t do well to dwell on that right now though. Jeno had a mission to attend to. 

 

Kun considered the bottle in front of him. It had 10 pills in it. He looked over his charts, tracking the effects the pills had had on the subjects it had been given to. The results were... interesting. Compliance was at the top of the list of side effects, along with weakness and difficulty sleeping. However, it also gave elevated levels of dopamine, and increased sensitivity to all of the senses, primarily touch. And it seemed to be relatively addictive just from the first dose. 

It was time for him to return his report to Taeyong. He had made Chenle type it up last night while chatting with Lucas, and it was full of his findings and the exact chemical makeup of the drug that he’d synthesized from Sicheng and Renjun’s blood samples. 

The drug was nasty. He had tried to see a way it could be useful – interrogations, long term confinement, torture. But nothing really seemed to click. It mostly just made people compliant, sensitive, and addicted. Nothing he would put out on the street, and nothing he could use to experiment with. 

Kun sighed and picked up the printed report (when Taeyong would accept reports via email the world may never know.) He headed over to Taeyong’s office, arms full of his burden. His official recommendation was bolded at the top of the paper work, just in case his conversation with Taeyong didn’t get around to it. 

DISCONTINUE PRODUCTION. 

That should do it. No reason to subject anyone else to this mess of chemicals. Even Kun could see when something was only useful for keeping people from fighting back, even when they had chances to. Renjun and Sicheng hadn’t made it through withdrawal unscathed, and they definitely hadn’t made it through the addiction itself unscathed. Their blood work was clean now though, and Kun had double and triple checked his work there. 

The bottle was a backup plan. He fully expected Taeyong to have him lock it up in his cabinet of other drug samples they wouldn’t be using. Right next to the one that made people puke up their own stomachs. Kun winced a bit when he thought of that one, but in his defense he had been 19 and excitable. Besides. It was evidence that he could make a drug that could do basically anything. 

If he didn’t get a sample of Love Scenario soon though, he might have to break that one back out. Not to use, but as a threat? Who would be the best person to threaten with it? ‘Don’t threaten your coworkers.’ Doyoung would surely say if he could look in Kun’s mind right now. Ten would probably encourage it. Chenle probably would be unhappy if he made someone puke up their own stomach though, so that was probably a bad idea. 

Chenle had been working on his own formula’s recently. Kun had given him some basic drugs to deconstruct and then put back together, and he had been inspired. Maybe the next drug they released would have a little C on the front instead of K. That thought made Kun feel oddly proud. He was at Taeyong’s door though, so this was a thought for a different time. Maybe after this he’d go synthesize whatever Chenle had written up most recently, see if it worked the way he wanted it to. That’d be fun.


	26. Jaehyun, Haechan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Do you remember me? Jk it hasn't been that long, but when I'm used to regular updates it felt like forever. And then this got delayed even more because I was like well it's late so it has to be perfect. But that's dumb so instead just have a chapter. 
> 
> Life is crazy right now, but I'll work on writing more I promise. I enjoy it! So it shouldn't be hard to do.
> 
> Dedicated to uh. Everything that's happened recently Idek. How about that Renjun and Chenle selfie? That was some good shit.

“Fuck.” Yuta said. Privately, after a good long look at the scene in front of them, Jaehyun agreed. 

They’d definitely found a base of some kind, so Jaehyun was correct about where Taeyang had been going to. However, they weren’t the first ones here. The apartment building hallway had bullets through every light, and the glass on the floor was fresh. There were two bodies in the stairway, both dead, with their guns left discarded besides them. Jeno slipped quietly to one of the bodies and looked at the jacket the man was wearing. 

“It has a Big Bang logo.” Jeno said. 

“In fighting?” Lucas suggested. 

“No way to know for sure.” Jaehyun said. “I don’t think so though.” And he didn’t. In fighting tended to be cleaner. Dead members of your gang, even ones you disagreed with, could lead to cops snooping around, and other rival gangs sensing weakness. They knew Big Bang was having internal tension, but he just couldn’t believe it would get bad enough to let them be this careless. 

“Stay close.” Yuta said. “We just had a change in mission." 

Lucas, Jaehyun, and Jeno fell into a tight formation around Yuta, pulling guns up and to their chests, ready for anything. The four of them started to ascend the stairs slowly. Jaehyun noted the lack of bullet holes in walls. Whoever had done this had been very good, targeting lights and bodies without wasting ammo. 

The second floor of the complex had more bodies on the floor in various states of disarray. Most doors were closed, but one or two were open, clearly having been knocked inward. If Jaemin were here, he’d be making a disdainful remark about how lock picking was an underappreciated artform. Luckily Jaehyun wasn’t going to get that lecture today. 

After a quick glance in the open doors, Yuta nodded for everyone to follow him to the third and final floor. The group moved slowly, trying not to creak any stairs. It seemed like it didn’t matter, however. The third floor yielded more bodies, more broken doors, and nothing alive. 

“OK.” Yuta said, addressing the group. “Split up and check each room more thoroughly. Who knows what we could find here. Keep your headsets on, and call us if you find anything.” 

Jaehyun nodded before taking off back down to the second floor. He walked into the first open room, checking over a couple of bodies. Oddly enough, however, he couldn’t seem to find the distinct patches Big Bang members had sewn onto their clothes. Maybe this woman was an attacker? But, no, not with the way she was positioned. She had been shot facing the door and in a defensive position. So then who did she belong to? 

Suddenly, there was a noise from the bathroom. Jaehyun jerked his gun up, cursing himself for getting distracted by the body. He pressed a button on his headset twice, which made a small beep play for the other members, and walked towards the bathroom. He planted himself right outside the door, listening intently for another noise. There was a breathless moment of absolute silence, before he heard a small wet cough from the bathroom. Jaehyun dropped his head back against the wall behind him. That settled it. He would wait for backup. 

Jeno was the first around the corner, creeping over to where Jaehyun was. Jaehyun gestured for him to get ready, and then the two of them rounded the corner, guns forward, looking to see who was here. Jaehyun paused however when he saw a figure laying in the bathtub. The figure’s stomach was stained red from a bullet, and his breaths were slow and labored, but quiet and nearly motionless. He was well trained to play dead clearly, but the wound must have been too much. He heard Jeno take a sharp inhale beside him. 

“Jaehyun.” Jeno said lowly. “Jaehyun, isn’t that Bobby?” 

Bobby? “IKON’s Bobby?” Jaehyun said. Jeno nodded. Jaehyun walked a little closer to get a better look at his face, and took in a sharp breath of his own. It was Bobby. Bobby, who was inner circle in IKON, which worked under the YG family of gangs. Bobby who was not supposed to be in a Big Bang hideout, who had apparently been meeting with Taeyang. Bobby who was now shot and bleeding out in a bathtub. 

“What do we do?” Jeno whispered. 

“Yuta.” Jaehyun said into his headset. “We have a situation.” 

 

“I’m not a miracle worked.” Taeil said, arms crossed and looking distinctly annoyed. “He’s as stable as I can make him but we won’t know for sure until he wakes up.” 

Haechan smiled from his seat, amused as always to see Taeil be short with other members. Taeil (and Kun) were technically the bottom of the totem pole when it came to inner circle hierarchy. They were still inner circle of course, but it was easy for people to forget that fact. Taeil especially since he had to abstain in official votes. 

Right now, though, all the power was in his hands. Haechan forgot his own exhaustion while watching Taeil look down his nose at a sheepish Johnny. “Sorry.” Johnny said. “Taeyong is just a little anxious to question him.” 

“And Taeyong can question him all he wants when he wakes up.” 

If he wakes up, Haechan added in his head. On the outside though he stayed the quiet and attentive apprentice. He knew he wasn’t fooling anyone who lived here. But it was good practice for when he was dealing with people who hadn’t seen him running down the hallway, holding Jaemin’s clothes and towel in his hands, while Jaemin ran after him naked and dripping from his shower. That was hilarious, and totally worth all three lectures he received. (One from Taeil, mostly for appearances, one from Taeyong, not for appearances, and one from Doyoung, privately and nearly a week later. Doyoung knew how to let things stew and then hit you later for maximum effect. He almost made him feel bad about Jaemin slipping down a set of stairs. Almost. (Jaemin wasn’t even hurt it was fine.)) 

Surgery for this latest case had taken forever, and Haechan really wanted to be anywhere but the infirmary right now. Until Johnny left, however, Haechan was stuck watching Bobby to make sure he didn’t keel over right then and there. 

“Keep us updated.” Johnny was saying, which sounded promising. 

“Of course.” Taeil said. He didn’t even roll his eyes which was very impressive. “You’ll be the first to know.” 

Johnny smiled like that pleased him, which was hysterical to Haechan considering who else could Taeil possibly want to tell? But finally he was leaving. As soon as the door closed, Haechan shot up out of his chair and was in Taeil’s face. 

“Go.” Taeil said, putting a hand on his face. “Get some sleep please and be back in 6 hours.” 

6 hours? Practically a life time. He could get some sleep, some take out, and steal something from Mark all in that time frame. 

This Bobby guy was a little above Haechan’s current clearance level, so to be honest he didn’t really understand all the hype about him. He was going to live though, that was clear at the end of the surgery. The ‘if’ in he wakes up was less about him living about him living and more about whether the blood loss had fucked him up in the head. Haechan had seen that before, and he wouldn’t wish it one anyone. 

He didn’t think Bobby was Big Bang. He’d been briefed on the Big Bang members just a few weeks ago, and his memory wasn’t that bad. Bobby was also a pretty distinctive name and not something he was likely to forget. 

Whatever. Work talk (and think) later, sleep now. Except, wait. Haechan stared at the door to his room, which was ajar. He was sure he had closed it. He wasn’t afraid, the base was safe, just confused. He pushed open the propped door, letting a thin stream of light fall across the bed and it’s occupants, one of which whined dramatically and rolled out of the stream. 

Jaemin and Jeno had piled themselves onto Haechan’s king sized bed, probably getting sweat and grossness on his pillows. Haechan snorted at Jaemin’s distress, heading into the room to join them. Nap time was almost always better with friends. He pulled up short, however, when he caught sight of Renjun, who was out cold in a (very comfortable) chair next to the bed. 

Disregarding time spent in the hospital, Haechan had never seen Renjun asleep. Other members constantly invaded each others spaces, but Renjun and Sicheng’s room had a big bubble around it that no one broke. There room even had a lock on the door – one that actually worked. So seeing Renjun here asleep and near other people, even though he wasn’t sharing a bed, was a little magical. 

Haechan took off his scrubs and pulled on a pair of soft sleep pants, before sliding in with Jaemin and Jeno. As soon as he did, Jeno curled over onto him, pulling him into a loose hug. This was exactly what he needed, but he hadn’t set an alarm yet so he pulled forward to grab his phone and Jeno, not letting go, was pulled as well. Jaemin whined about this as well from the other side of Jeno, and as soon as Haechan put his phone down he found himself being dragged back farther onto the bed, Jaemin pulling Jeno and Jeno taking Haechan with him. Haechan couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. On his chair, Renjun shifted slightly at the noise and everyone froze, but Renjun’s breathing stayed even, so they sighed and relaxed again. Haechan grabbed a pillow and pulled it into his chest, letting the long day and his friends help him drift off.


	27. Johnny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey your girl is back with an update. Sorry about the spacing between these. Everything is going a little crazy in my life right now. Good crazy! But crazy.
> 
> This is dedicated to the Save NCT Dream live, which I woke up at 6am to watch, and was totally worth it. Please continue to lock people in escape rooms and let us watch and vote. Having like everyone group together to throw Renjun under the bus so he would have to open that door brought me a great level of joy.
> 
> Happy first of March!! May your March be like, bangin'. Go get some fucking ice cream or something.

Taeyong was in his chair at his desk, looking every bit the head of a powerful gang, if one ignored the fact his feet were up on his desk and in Ten’s lap, who was perched precariously on the edge. 

“This is so weird though.” Ten said. “Why was he in a Big Bang base?” 

“Maybe Big Bang was sent some help from other YG groups.” Johnny said. “They have been getting hit constantly recently.” 

“They’ve been getting hit too often.” Taeyong had his head in his hands. Johnny was slightly concerned. “Why haven’t they just retreated back to YG.” 

“We don’t know how YG works.” Johnny said. “If we were getting hit a lot SM would probably send us some EXO members for help. Bobby being there makes sense when you think of it that way.” 

“Ugh!” Ten said. He leaned back and Johnny watched him, waiting to have to catch him as he tumbled off the desk. He stayed in place though, and rocked forward again. Johnny let out a breath. “I’m so sick of this. Have we asked Sicheng and Renjun anything recently? Or Eunbi?” 

“No.” Taeyong said. “Yuri and Yena are both out of YG entirely, and we’ve avoided Eunbi out of respect for his position in the gang.” 

“We don’t want to get her in trouble.” Johnny added. “And we might.” 

“Sicheng then?” Ten said. He started drumming out a frantic beat on Taeyong’s ankles. 

“I think we exhausted that pipeline of information the first week they were here.” Taeyong said. Johnny agreed. Even with Sicheng being favored, he doubted someone kept around for sex could have possibly learned that much. Ten turned his gaze to Johnny as if he could hear his thoughts. 

“I don’t think you two understand the position Sicheng was in.” Ten said, glaring. “He may not know that what he knows is important to know, but that doesn't change the fact that he knows it.” 

All the men in the room paused to parse through that statement. Taeyong nodded slowly. “We’ll talk to him again.” 

“Good.” Ten said. He rocked back on the desk again, and Johnny took in a sharp breath, but Ten remained seated. “Now?” 

“Now?” Johnny said. 

“Now.” Taeyong agreed quietly. He pressed a button on his desk, and there was a moment of silence before Mark’s voice sounded over the intercom. 

“Yes?” 

“Can you send Sicheng and Renjun to me?” Taeyong said. 

“Sure, one moment.” Mark said, before the line went dead. There was a knock on the door, and Johnny was surprised. It was impossible that they could be here already, right? 

“Come in.” Taeyong said. The door pressed open and Haechan walked in, holding a clipboard and looking distracted. “Report?” 

“Yeah.” Haechan said. “Taeil wants you to know that all of Bobby’s vitals are stable, and his brain activity is starting to show mild-” 

“Thanks Haechan.” Ten said, cutting him off. “Save the medical talk for Taeil though.” 

Haechan shot Ten an ugly face, which Ten repeated right back at him, before they both went back to pleasant professional neutrality. Haechan looked at Taeyong. 

“Right.” Taeyong said. “That’s good news, yes?” 

“Yeah.” Haechan said. “Basically, he should be up sooner rather than later.” 

“Good!” Ten said. “I’m excited to question him.” 

Johnny shuddered. Ten’s version of questioning wasn’t always pretty. Bobby was going to be weak and alone in an enemy base, and should be very willing to talk. Hopefully Ten wouldn’t need to be involved in this process at all. 

“Tell Taeil thank you for the update, and for both of your hard work the past couple of days.” Taeyong said. “I’m fortunate to have you here.” 

“Of course.” Haechan said demurely, voice a purr. Ten looked like he was boiling. “I’ll let him know what you said.” 

As Haechan turned to leave however, there was another knock. Haechan pulled the door open, surprising Sicheng who was on the other side and had his hand still up. “Oh.” Sicheng said lightly. “Hello.” 

Haechan smiled with his whole body, so Johnny could see the grin overtaking him even from behind. “Sicheng! Hi!” 

Sicheng smiled, his eyes scrunching up, and he allowed Haechan to pull him into a loose but still affectionate hug. They were interrupted by Renjun who pushed them both further into the room, splitting their hug and sending Haechan towards Ten on the desk. Ten shifted to avoid him and it was finally enough, overbalancing him and sending him backwards towards the floor. Johnny, who had not been prepared, just watched as Ten hit the floor, his air rushing out in a wheeze. 

“Excuse me.” Renjun said. “You’re in the doorway.” 

Sicheng reached out a hand silently and grabbed one of Renjun’s ears, pulling down sharply. Renjun hissed and twisted, but Sicheng didn’t let up, holding him for a long beat before letting go. Johnny couldn’t think of a better word to describe his expression besides a pout as he raised a hand to his ear and rubbed it. 

Sicheng turned to address the room, but paused when he saw Haechan bent over holding his ass where it had slammed into the corner of the desk, and Ten still on the ground, catching his breath. 

“We can come back?” Sicheng said finally. 

“No it’s fine.” Taeyong said. His feet were on the floor next to Ten, who used them to pull himself behind the desk and hide. “Take a seat.” 

Sicheng and Renjun took a wide arc around Haechan to sit on the couch in the corner. They leaned into each other as always, one long point of contact connecting them from hip to shoulder. 

“We had a few questions about Big Bang.” Johnny said. Renjun bristled lightly, but remained mostly still which was quite the improvement. 

Sicheng frowned. “Yes?” 

“Recently we’ve been tracking a drug YG was producing.” Taeyong said. “However, whenever we come near it, someone else got there first.” 

“Got to the drug first?” Renjun asked. 

“The drug and the manufacturers and the distributors.” Taeyong said. “And recently the gang members as well.” 

“I don’t know who would attack Big Bang.” Sicheng said. He turned to look at Renjun. “Can you think of any enemies?” 

Renjun shook his head. “I don’t know of any of Big Bangs enemies, besides you.” He turned to look at Taeyong. “SM is the only name that I remember coming up.” 

Johnny had suspected that, but it was still a little annoying to have his suspicions confirmed. He headed closer to Taeyong, sure that Taeyong would be dismissing the brothers soon, and needing to talk to him about the J’s. Since Jaemin had been put back in action, their teamwork had been suffering a bit. He was thinking about sending Jaemin, Jeno, and Jaehyun out on a team building mission. Break a few cars, climb a few cliffs. The usual stuff. 

“Wait.” Sicheng said, interrupting Johnny’s train of thought. “I think I may know something that could be helpful.” 

“By all means,” Taeyong said, gesturing. 

“Several days before the raid, I was attending G-Dragon at a dinner.” Sicheng said, and Johnny immediately wished he would stop talking. That was selfish though, and he tried to nip it in the bud. “A man came in, he was very upset.” Sicheng furrowed his brows. “He said that, uh, ‘the boss’ knew about them? And that they were in danger? I don’t...” Sicheng trailed off, before looking at Johnny. “I’m sorry. Maybe I don’t know anything.” 

Johnny’s head was spinning a mile a minute. ‘The boss’, but it wasn’t G-Dragon? “No Sicheng, that’s fantastic thank you.” Sicheng’s features lost their worried edge. “Did anything else happen?” 

“G-Dragon shot the man for interrupting his dinner.” Sicheng said. 

Oh. 

“Do you need to hear about what happened next?” Sicheng asked. Johnny almost said yes, before catching Renjun’s gaze, who slowly shook his head, eyes fixed on Johnny’s. 

“I don’t think that will be necessary Sicheng.” Johnny said slowly, taking the hint. “Again though, thank you.” 

“I have questions.” Ten said, who had at some point emerged from behind the desk and was sitting on it next to Haechan. The two of them were kicking each other, but besides that were being very civil so Johnny allowed this to continue. “You were at dinner and a man came in. Do you remember what he looked like?” 

“He was wearing a Big Bang uniform.” Sicheng said. “But he wasn’t someone I had... been with before.” 

“So not inner circle.” Renjun translated, looking closely at Sicheng. “If I had been there I might have known him.” 

“I’m glad you were not there.” Sicheng said in an undertone, and now the atmosphere of the room had changed and Johnny, selfishly, wished he was somewhere else. 

“So someone from Big Bang then.” Ten said, barreling forward. “And he told G-Dragon, the boss of Big Bang, that the boss was angry about something?” 

Sicheng nodded and Ten made a low confused noise. Johnny agreed. 

“So YG then.” Haechan said. Every head in the room turned to look at him, and he flustered slightly under the attention. “Our boss’s boss is SM. So G-Dragons would be-” 

“YG.” Taeyong breathed out. “Big Bang was hiding something from YG and YG found out.” 

“Love Scenario.” Johnny said, something stirring in his gut. “It has to be Love Scenario.” 

Taeyong stood from behind the desk, and Renjun and Sicheng both stood as well. They still disliked being seated when others were standing Johnny noticed. Taeyong pressed the same button on his desk, and when Mark answered, he cut him off immediately. “Call a meeting. Everyone who is available. You, too, Mark.” 

“Of course.” Mark said. Johnny started to pace, unable to stay still with the energy thruming low in his gut. Haechan hopped off the desk to cross over to Renjun and Sicheng, Ten following behind and filling the three of them in with a low voice as they all sat together on the couch. Johnny made his way over to Taeyong, who had begun furiously typing at his desk. 

“What are you writing?” Johnny asked. 

“Email’s to Irene and Taeyeon and Suho and Leeteuk and-” 

“Emails to everyone, yes.” Johnny said. “What are you going to tell them?” 

“Curtesy warning that Big Bang has broken away from YG.” Taeyong said. “And that they should be prepared for anything from that front. And also that we don’t have a third player like we though, just a split apart enemy.” 

“Is it too much to ask that they just fight themselves?” Johnny said wistfully. 

“Yes.” Taeyong said, his tone dry. “Red Velvet may come help us though. Joy is apparently getting annoyed with the ‘unsafe nature of the streets’ right now. Her workers are getting antsy.” 

“Joy terrifies me.” Johnny said. 

“Same.” 

They both shared a look and snorted. Joy was like a female Jungwoo, but her energy was more focused, and she had been in the industry longer. Johnny had interrupted a meeting she had been having with Jungwoo once, and having both of them directly focused on him was enough to send him scrambling for an excuse to leave the room. 

There were knocks on the door, and people started streaming into the small office. The J’s wandered over to the couch, sitting on the floor by Renjun and Haechan’s feet. Kun sat next to Sicheng, followed by Lucas, who just barely squeezed himself onto the end, pressing Kun further into Sicheng, Sicheng further in Renjun, Renjun further into Haechan, and Haechan so tightly into Ten that Ten hopped off the couch entirely. As he stood though, Doyoung walked in and Ten attached himself to him, making Doyoung frog walk over to the wall. 

Jaehyun came in with Mark, both of them deep in a discussion about something. Jaehyun had something in his hands though, and Johnny watched as he swung by the couch to give Renjun a stuffed toy of some kind and Sicheng an ice cream bar. Both accepted these with small smiles and thanks, but they didn’t seem very surprised. Johnny remembered when the brothers were still in the hospital, and how Renjun had a small army of pillows by the time he was released. Jaehyun was a kind person. It was always nice to remember. 

Jungwoo came in quickly, heading to where Ten and Doyoung were bickering. Taeil and Yuta were the last two in, and the room was packed by the time they found a place to stand, safely away from all the potential fights. Taeyong stood from behind his desk and everyone fell silent. 

“So.” Taeyong said. 

“So.” The room echoed back at him. Sicheng let out a giggle on the couch, and the room followed, breaking into light nervous laughter that cut the tension. 

“So. Big Bang was hiding Love Scenario from YG and YG found out. Our guess is that they are the ones putting out the hits on Big Bang’s distribution plants and on the drug runners.” 

“So can we just wait then?” Yuta said. “YG won’t stop until Love Scenario is wiped out. It’ll be personal.” 

“I don’t see why not.” Johnny said. 

“The man in my infirmary.” Taeil said. “He’s not Big Bang.” 

Shit. Almost forgot about him. “Right.” Johnny said. “He’s IKON.” 

“IKON is under YG, yes?” Jungwoo said. “If the base was attacked by YG, why would IKON help Big Bang?” 

“Maybe IKON was one of the attackers?” Johnny said. 

“No.” Jaehyun cut in. “Not the way we found him.” 

“Jaehyun is right.” Yuta said. “Bobby was defending the base.” 

“Bobby?” Renjun said quietly. All attention swung to him. 

There was a moment of silence. “Yes?” Taeyong prompted. 

“I um. I was given to IKON a few times.” Renjun said, his face flushing, embarrassed by what Johnny could only guess at. “I’ve met Bobby.” 

“Do you know anything about him that could be helpful?” Taeyong said, urging him along. 

“IKON is the only other gang I’ve been sent to.” Renjun said. He took a slow breath and Sicheng snuck his hand down to grab Renjun’s. “They have close ties with Big Bang. Um. He’s quite strong so I could see him being a fighter? Sicheng, did G Dragon ever mention...?” 

“GD met with BI a few times while I was present.” Sicheng said. His face was clearly unhappy. “They had business discussions. When did he lend you to IKON?” 

Renjun’s flush darkened. He said something quickly in Mandarin before turning to address the room. “So maybe Big Bang and IKON worked together on Love Scenario?” 

“It’s easier to imagine Big Bang doing something behind YG’s back if they had the support of another major player like IKON.” Yuta said. He shot a speculative look at Renjun, who was pointedly refusing to return Sicheng’s gaze. 

“I’m now solidly in favor of letting them fight it out.” Johnny said, trying to keep the discussion afloat. “There’s enough fire power on both sides.” 

“What do we do with Bobby?” Jaehyun asked. 

“I’ll tell you what we can do with Bobby.” Jaemin began lowly, before Jeno nudged him. He shook his head and fell quiet. Johnny kind of wanted to know where he was going to go with that. Children were quite creative at times. 

“We’ll question him and confirm our suspicions.” Taeyong said. “Then we’ll wait to hear from SM. Even if IKON is breaking away from YG, they haven’t yet and we still have a tentative alliance there.” 

Sicheng had started a low stream of Mandarin aimed at Renjun, who was staring down at his lap and ignoring him. Johnny cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the room away from the brothers. “So. Plan for the next few days. Continue on as we have been with protection detail, wait for Bobby to wake up, and stop chasing after Love Scenario. It’s a waste of resources. Yes?” 

“Yes.” Taeyong confirmed. “Dismissed.” 

Renjun shot for the door the second Taeyong said that, followed closely by Sicheng who was still holding his hand. Everyone waited politely for them to leave before heading out themselves. Johnny was tempted to tell someone to follow them, but it was highly unlikely they would fight in any meaningful way. Sometimes things just needed to play out. 

Long day. Informative day! But long day. Johnny sat on the couch next to a quiet Kun, who was likely digesting whatever conversation he had overheard in Mandarin, and dropped his head onto his shoulder, sighing deeply. Kun put a hand in Johnny’s hair, and Johnny appreciated the gesture, closing his eyes.


	28. Sicheng

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok hey! We're back!
> 
> This is a little itty bitty short but I wanted to give y'all something while I write up the next chapter (and also it's been a while since I've written anything for Sicheng or Renjun and I think it's important that I include their perspective occasionally.) All dialogue here is in Mandarin but I get annoyed when I have to italicize too many things lolol.
> 
> Anyway! I'll get the next one out in a couple of days. Can't you just taste the conclusion.

"I don't really want to talk about it.” Renjun said, sitting down on his bed and staring up at Sicheng pointedly. 

“Why haven’t you told me about this?” Sicheng said. He was unphased by Renjun’s stubbornness. “I think I deserve to know about you being lent out.” 

“Deserve to know?” Renjun grabbed tightly at the sheets below his hands. “What does that even mean? Deserve.” He scoffed, looking away from Sicheng. “What a stupid word.” 

“You’re my brother.” Sicheng said. He took a couple of steps towards Renjun, but stopped when he noticed the tension running down his shoulders. 

“Yes.” Renjun said, terse. 

“And I love you.” Sicheng said. “And I want to know if you’re hurt.” 

“I’m not though.” Renjun said. He made eye contact. “I’m fine. I’m right in front of you and I’m clearly fine.” 

Sicheng felt his face twisting into a bitter smile. “Yes you are so clearly fine right now.” 

“Just drop it!” Renjun shouted, surprising Sicheng and, from his expression, himself. He continued at a more calm volume, but it was clearly an effort for him. “I can take care of myself.” 

“But you don’t have to.” Sicheng said. He moved towards Renjun again, this time coming close enough to crouch on the floor in front of him. Renjun looked down at the ground, knuckles white. “We take care of each other, remember?” He slowly reached a hand out towards Renjun’s knee, before placing it there softly. “You take care of me, I take care of you.” 

“I remember.” Renjun said, voice just above a whisper. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” 

“None of that.” Sicheng said. “I’m not upset with you.” Renjun looked up at this, eyes open and young and Sicheng hurt inside, remembered things he wished he could forget. The first night after they were taken, Renjun next to him when Sicheng was assaulted for the first time, and then later being with Renjun right before his first time, knowing what was coming and telling him it would be alright. Sicheng had cried and held his hand and lied straight to his face. Lying had not come naturally to him, and the next morning Renjun, shaky and bruised, had told him they wouldn’t lie again, not to each other, never to each other. 

In many ways, he was simply tired. It had been nearly two months since the raid, several weeks since leaving the infirmary and moving into their own room. The door was still locked, and then double and triple checked, every single night. The ugly brand on Sicheng’s hip seemed to ache, and it didn’t matter what he did, there was just a constant itch beneath his skin telling him to grab Renjun and hold him close and run and freeze and hide and everything all at the same time and it never went away just a constant rolling wave of something and- 

“Hey.” Renjun said. Sicheng startled, and then noticed that Renjun had taken Sicheng’s hand in his. He looked up into his eyes. “I’m right here.” 

Sicheng nodded, and Renjun scooted off the bed to sit on the floor in front of Sicheng. He pressed their foreheads together and Sicheng let his eyes fall closed.


	29. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok we're like really back now! My schedule has chilled, I have time to write, and I'm super pumped to be getting back into it.
> 
> Dedicated to MarkHyucks cover and Renjun's wonderful picture (my new lock screen.)
> 
> As a little authors note, the members who founded NCT were Yuta, Johnny, Taeyong, Kun, and Taeil, with Doyoung joining about a year later. It's not really relevant, but just some extra info for those of you who like that sort of stuff (me everytime I read something.)
> 
> Enjoy!!

"And then you pull the yarn through here.” Lucas said, demonstrating with his needle. Renjun and Chenle both watched him carefully, holding their own needles tightly. “And voila! One stitch. It’s easy, right?”   
   
Chenle copied his movements slowly, but successfully, and let out a small cheer of success. Renjun on the other hand didn’t move, staring closely at Lucas’s hands. “One more time?” Renjun asked.   
   
“’Course!” Lucas said. “So, here is what you have to do first.”   
   
Across the room, Ten sat with Doyoung and Jungwoo, the latter having thrown his legs over both Doyoung and Ten’s laps. Doyoung had a hand absently stroking Jungwoo’s ankle, while his other hand held a book. Ten tried sneaking a glance at the page he was reading, but Doyoung noticed and pointedly tilted the book away from Ten.   
   
Whatever. The cover looked like bad romance anyway. Ten was sure it was terrible. He bumped his shoulder into Doyoung’s, who glared at him. Ten smiled innocently, and Doyoung rolled his eyes and returned to his book.   
   
A loud laugh startled Ten out of him bothering, and he looked over to see the Jisung had wandering in at some point, and had somehow managed to absolutely ruin Renjun’s row. Jisung was staring down at the knitting in confusion while Chenle laughed at him. Renjun looked mildly murderous, but it probably wasn’t serious.   
   
“Jisungie you’re terrible at this.” Chenle said, taking the needles from him. He looked at the mess and cracked up again before passing it over to Lucas who did his best to untangle the knot.   
   
“Give me yours.” Renjun said to Chenle, holding his hands out expectantly. “I didn’t get to try.”   
   
“No!” Chenle squawked, hiding them behind his back.    
   
“Chenle.” Renjun said, standing. Chenle stood as well, and there was a brief moment of silence before they took off, racing around the room, Chenle laughing bright and Renjun grinning. He grabbed a pillow from a couch and chucked it at Chenle, catching him across the back of his head and making Chenle trip. Chenle let out an ‘oof’ as he hit the ground, trying to roll away, but Renjun was faster and sat on his back, grabbing for the needles. “Give it!”   
   
“No!” Chenle said, wiggling hard. “Lucas will make you a new one.”   
   
“I don’t want a new one.” Renjun said. “I want yours.” He paused for a moment, sitting on Chenle’s back, before diving his hands in on Chenle’s sides. Chenle nearly screamed in his laugh, managing to sit up and dislodge Renjun. Renjun fell onto his back and started laughing, while Chenle pouted and held his knitting close to his chest.  

“Careful.” Doyoung said. Apparently paying attention to this mock fight was more important than his book, but Ten wasn’t. Whatever. Ten noticed that Renjun froze up a bit when Doyoung spoke, but it seemed to pass quickly enough, so he decided to let it lie. Renjun and Sicheng both had people they were more comfortable with, but they also knew no one here was a threat. 

Ten had actually spent the night with the two of them a couple days ago. Sicheng had pulled him aside in the hallway and asked if he would be willing to sleep in the same room that night. Apparently it was something Sicheng was trying to work on, sleeping in the same room as someone besides Renjun without equating it with his past. This had surprised Ten a lot, since he had shared sleeping space with other pets often. He asked Sicheng this that night and Sicheng had explained that his favor had grown quickly, and while Renjun still had occasionally crashed with others, Sicheng himself slept with inner circle members or Renjun. 

Ten supposed he just wasn’t a threatening presence to either of them. But he also didn’t watch Disney movies with them, or cook with them, or learn how to knit. He frowned. It was all well and good to have common experience binding you together with someone, but he wished he could find another way to be close to them besides just a level of shared trauma.

He watched Renjun as he stood and left Chenle on the ground to go take the spare needles Lucas had already set up for him. Lucas hesitated, before asking if he could touch Renjun on the hands. Renjun nodded and then Lucas was guiding him through the motions. Chenle wandered over to Jisung, who was on the floor by the legs of the two other boys, and he sat down leaning his back against the couch. A tightness crept up through Ten’s ribs, making his breathing shallow. He couldn’t look away.

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his daze, and he shot his eyes to see Jungwoo staring at him, concern and confusion in his gaze. He smiled at Jungwoo, who definitely saw through his ruse, but blessedly decided to play along and smile back. Ten rolled out his neck and then stood suddenly, dislodging Jungwoo’s legs and making him kick Doyoung by accident. That wasn’t actually Ten’s plan, but it was a pleasant bonus. Doyoung’s glare at Ten softened when Jungwoo apologized, and Ten used the distraction to slip out of the room.

He wasn’t sure what to do with this uncomfortable feeling in his gut. He knew his place here, had fought for it and proved again and again why he was in charge of gambling. No one in the inner circle brought up his past unless they had explicit permission and it was in some way relevant to a current issue.

Was that what was bothering him? Did he want to talk about it more, have it be a bigger part of his identity? He traced a hand over the tattoo on his hip. You could still feel the brand underneath, the ink doing nothing to mask the way skin had dented and healed. Renjun and Sicheng seemed hardly aware of their brands at time, both of them wearing shirts that rode up occasionally.

When Ten found his way to NCT, they were a young group willing to take on a potential security risk for the information and expertise that Ten provided, but unequipped to deal with the ramifications of someone being forced into prostitution. Ten had done his best to pretend that he was completely fine (mentally, at least.) NCT had 6 inner members at the time, and they were all desperately trying to prove something to someone.

He was fine with his past, truly. Ten came to terms with his life a long time ago. But there was something bitter sweet about seeing Sicheng quietly observing Kun in his lab just a few weeks after arriving, something that had taken Ten nearly two years to gain permission for.

Ah shit. If he kept up with this thinking he’d end up bitter with people for things they couldn’t help. Everyone was better equipped now, better prepared. This was nothing to be dwelling on.

Actually. Ten stared at the door in front of him. Sicheng and Renjun’s room. He knocked, and after a minute Sicheng popped his head out.

“Yes?” Sicheng said, holding onto the door. His hair said he’d probably been napping.

“Have you ever danced before?” Ten said.

“Yes.” Sicheng said quietly. “To entertain guests and such.”

“Have you ever danced for yourself?” Ten asked.

There was a pause, before Sicheng shook his head. “Maybe a long time ago. I-“ He trailed off.

“There’s a practice room downstairs with a big mirror.” Ten said. “It’s for sparring training, but the floor is a dance floor really.”

“Is there.” Sicheng said. He had the most interesting expression on his face, a mix of incredulity and something tentative. Ten thought he looked a bit hopeful.

Ten grinned. “Do you want to come dance with me?”

Sicheng had a half smile on his face, and Ten felt a rush of something victorious well up from his stomach. “Sure.”


	30. Taeil, Renjun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! The flu is going around at work so I had to cover like a million shifts it was bonkers. But basically everyone is healthy now, and also my next pay check is going to be A+++++ so like it's all good.
> 
> Dedicated to NCT 127 in New York doing random play dances with fans and just like living it the fuck up. Good for them. Why am I not there.
> 
> Enjoy!

Taeil sat in the infirmary, absently flicking through the pages of some magazine Haechan had left behind. There was a quiz ‘what’s your power color’ that had been filled in already. He thumbed down to the results. Apparently Haechan’s was yellow. Good to know.

Taeil sighed and dropped the magazine, turning to look at Bobby, hooked up to IV’s and handcuffed to the cot he was lying on, for all accounts still dead to the world. It’d be nice if he would wake up soon, they could question him, and then (hopefully) wipe their hands of this whole mess. Waiting was something Taeil had a lot of practice in, though not so much the people around him. He had waited for a placement after training under Chen, waited for NCT to mean something after it had started, waited for Doyoung to listen to Taeyong’s authority after being dumped on them, waited for Ten to stop roaming the halls like a stray cat, waited for Jeno and Jaemin to talk to anyone other than each other.

He was a pro.

Bobby was fine physically. It was time for him to be waking up now. Taeil turned to look at him, then slowly flicked his gaze over to the locked cabinet in the corner. Maybe he could…?

He probably shouldn’t. Though it might make Kun happy to finally have some actual data on one of his many locked up drugs. Most caused some form of terrible torment, but he knew there was a vial in there of extremely condensed adrenaline. A shot of that might just make Bobby wake up.

Or maybe it would kill him. And then he would have to explain that to Taeyong, and to Haechan as well (those explanations would probably be received very differently.) It was incredibly tempting though. Even if just to make this one problem vanish off of Taeil’s plate.

At least Jaemin was basically done with his follow ups. Sicheng still wasn’t quite at weight, but it was possible he never would be based on the long term effects of his life style. No one had been injured recently, at least not to the extent that Taeil couldn’t have Haechan deal with it. ‘Training’.

He stood, deciding now was as good a time as any to go check in with Mark and make sure there was no paperwork he needed to sign off on. Mark was notorious for being so wrapped up in his work he forgot to tell people when he needed signatures. Everyone tended to just check in every couple of weeks and sign off on multiple things at once, with Mark looking faintly embarrassed in the background. As he went to leave though, the heart monitor sped up, and as Taeil turned to look, he saw Bobby open his eyes. Taeil moved quickly to the wall and hit the call button for Yuta.

“Yeah?” Yuta's voice sounded sleep scratchy, which made sense considering it was maybe 7am at this point.

“Our guest is awake.” Taeil said, staying near the wall and keeping eyes on Bobby. He knew there was no threat, but it was always good to be cautious. The head of a wolf when cut off could still bite, or so the saying went.

“I’m sending the J’s.” Yuta said. “Hang tight.” and the line disconnected. Taeil watched as Bobby’s eyes flicked around the room. Bobby noticed the handcuff, and gave it an experimental pull, but it held firm. Then his eyes found Taeil, and hardened.

“Hello doctor.” His tone was aiming for conversational, but the disuse of his voice while asleep made it scratchy. Taeil considered his options. Replying could give him control over the situation, but so could ignoring him. He already was up against a wall though, so Bobby knew he was wary of him. Replying it was.

“Hello.” Taeil started.

“Any chance I can know where I am?”

“In my infirmary.” Taeil said. 

“Ah.” Bobby said. He dropped his head back onto his pillow and closed his eyes for a moment. Taeil was still, waiting.

The door opened, and Jeno and Jaemin both came in, visibly armed but with a relaxed posture. Bobby opened his eyes again to survey them, before he let out a long breath.

“I’m going to sleep.” Bobby said. “Let me know if I can do anything for you.”

“We will.” Jaemin replied, hard grin on his face. Bobby rolled his eyes before closing them, seemingly nodding off nearly immediately. “Hey doc, we can take it from here.”

“Oh.” Taeil said. “Right.” He grabbed his bag from the corner and went to leave, walking past Jeno and Jaemin as they set up camp in the corner. He needed to report to Taeyong, and then he would go sign that paperwork for Mark. Get it all done at once. But it was hard for him to focus right now. He was unsettled in a way that he wasn’t familiar with.

Renjun knew Bobby. And it was common knowledge that NCT had some old Big Bang ‘property.’ And iKON worked with Big Bang, so iKON knew that NCT had Renjun and Sicheng. Of course it was entirely probable that Bobby didn’t remember Renjun. That Renjun remembered him had been surprising. But what if he did and somehow broke out of the infirmary and found Sicheng and Renjun and hurt them for betraying information about the gang?

Ok his thoughts were getting unrealistic at this point. He just really didn’t like having Bobby here now that he was awake. The sooner he was questioned and gone, the better.

 

Renjun had to see him.

He had to. He had to know if Bobby even remembered him, had to… yell at him or just see him hurt or something. He couldn’t just sit in his room pretending that he wasn’t awake and so so close to him practically in the same room. Jeno and Jaemin had been with Renjun when Yuta had called them, telling them to get to the infirmary and guard their guest. The two had left in a hurry, and Renjun had sat and stewed for two hours, trying to tell himself that it was fine, before leaving the safety of his room and heading to the infirmary.

He paused in his walk over when he realized an important fact he had missed. Jeno and Jaemin were going to be in the infirmary. He couldn’t do whatever it was he needed to do with them just sitting there. How could he get them to leave? Say Jaehyun needed them? No they would see right through that. Someone younger maybe? Would that work? Whatever it was worth a try. Plan in mind, he continued his walk. 

The door to the infirmary had never looked so large before. He reached out to open it and stopped. Maybe he didn’t want to see Bobby. No. He shook off his hesitation and reached out again, pushing the door open.

“Jeno?” Renjun said, popping his head into the infirmary. “Jaemin?”

Jaemin sprung up from his chair at the intrusion. “Hey! What’s up?”

Renjun walked further into the room, pointedly keeping his eyes off of Bobby. If Jeno and Jaemin caught him looking they might catch on. “I was looking for you guys. Jisung needed help with something and he thought you’d be able to do it.”

“What did ‘sungie need?” Jaemin said, before shaking his head. “Wait it doesn’t really matter. We’re on shift right now. Tell him I’ll drop by later.”

“It sounded urgent.” Renjun tried again. “You know Jisung.”

Jeno stood up from his casual lean against the wall and stared at Renjun, who tried not to squirm under the gaze. “Jisung will be fine without us, Junnie.”

“Well.” Fuck, Renjun thought. Could he come at this a different way? “Well-“

“Renjun.” Jeno interrupted. “Come sit with us?”

“Uh.” Renjun started, trailing off. He couldn’t stop his eyes from darting over to the cot where Bobby was. He was flat on the bed, but his eyes were open and tracking this conversation. Renjun made accidental brief eye contact with him, and felt himself flinch back sharply. God what was that about? Could he not be an adult for two seconds? He turned back to Jeno and Jaemin, starting to put on a smile, but he stilled when he saw their expressions.

“Hold down the fort J.” Jeno said, standing. “I’ll be right back.” Jeno walked over to Renjun, before lightly grabbing his hand to tug him out of the room. Renjun let himself be pulled, trying to ignore the acid building up from his stomach creeping into his lungs. He pushed down on the discomfort and disconnected his head, just a bit. Just enough to make the lecture he was surely about to get hit him a little less. Think about soft slippers, hot pot, the cool tiles in his bathroom.

“-jun?” Jeno was saying and oh maybe he floated a bit too hard, considering Jeno was close in front of him, carefully not touching him but close enough that Renjun could feel his body heat. He looked a little worried, which was silly. Renjun was doing fine.

“You were hyperventilating.” Jeno said. “I’ll walk you to your room. Do you want me to call for Sicheng?”

“No.” Renjun said. He took stock of his body and yeah his chest felt tight right now.

“Ok.” Jeno said, but he sounded doubtful. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.” Renjun said. Jeno paused. “I don’t want to go to my room. I want to see Bobby.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Jeno said slowly. 

“I don’t care.” Renjun said. “Jeno I have to.”

Jeno looked at him, and Renjun tried his best to keep eye contact. He could tell Jeno was searching for something, looking to see if he thought Renjun could handle this. 

“Ok.” Jeno said finally. “Ok. But me and Jaemin aren’t leaving. And you have to be careful not to say anything about NCT or any of the members.”

Renjun felt himself deflate. “Yeah of course.” He looked at the door. It had seemed huge earlier, with the prospect of facing down some part of his past alone weighing on his shoulders. Oddly enough, however, having Jeno next to him, and knowing the Jaemin was just behind the door seemed to make it shrink down to something more real, more manageable. 

“Ready?” Jeno asked, hand on the door.

“Yes.”


	31. Jeno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Um.
> 
> Hey what's up! Have a chapter. <3<3<3<3<3

Bobby’s eyes were closed when Jeno walked back into the infirmary. He looked over at Jaemin, who sent him a concerned glance, and responded with a reassuring one of his own. Time had allowed the two to develop their own language in glances, so Jaemin nodded slightly, getting the message and trusting Jeno to know what was best. Jeno turned back to look at Renjun, who had hesitated at the sight of Bobby seemingly asleep again. Renjun took a breath and before his eyes narrowed and he walked over to grab a chair from against the wall, pulling it behind him and placing it down harshly on the floor maybe 8 feet away from Bobby’s bed. 

The crash startled Jaemin, which was funny, but also startled Bobby, who flinched in the bed before slowly opening his eyes and lifting his head. Not asleep then after all.

“Hi.” Renjun said, sitting down.

Bobby studied him, “Hello.”

“Do you know who I am?” There was a pause, which visibly agitated Renjun. “Is that a no?”

“No.” Bobby said. blinking slowly. “No I know who you are.” He let his head fall back against the pillow. “Well. I know what you are.”

Renjun bristled. “What I am?”

Bobby coughed once. “To be honest I’m not sure I know your name, but I remember you if that’s the real question here.”

“The real question?” Renjun said, voiced pitched high. Jeno was worried that Renjun seemed this worked up this early in the conversation, but he didn’t want to interrupt. “What does that even mean?”

“It means I remember having you.” Bobby said. “I remember the party. Parties. Not only you, of course.”

“Oh of course.” Renjun spat. “It’d be hard to limit yourself to just one wouldn’t it.”

“Well no, but if the option is presenting itself.”

“Presenting itself?” Renjun said. 

“My bad. Being presented is more accurate.” Jeno clenched his hand rhythmically to avoid saying anything. He made sure to keep his eyes on Bobby, giving Renjun some semblance of privacy to react how he needed to. What this meant though was he wasn’t sure of the reason Renjun didn’t respond to this. Whether he was breathing deeply or seething or any other option.

“Listen.” Bobby said eventually. “This doesn’t have to be personal. I don’t remember hurting you either so I’m not sure what has you so worked up about this.”

“Of course you hurt me!” Renjun said. He stood from the chair. “God! What are you even saying?”

Bobby glanced over at him briefly, before returning his gaze to the ceiling. “Oh yes I’m sure I was your worst.”

“It’s not a fucking competition!” Renjun said. “It doesn’t matter if you were nice or mean or painful. None of that matters! What matters is it still happened.”

“Whatever.” Bobby said. “It doesn’t matter now anyway, does it.”

“That’s not how that works.” Renjun said. “You don’t get to- to rape me and then just. Just.” Jeno shot a glance over at him almost without meaning to, saw him fist a hand in his hair. “just die without knowing or caring.”

“I know what I did.” Bobby said. “I’m not stupid.”

“Then why the fu-“

“Because you didn’t matter.” Bobby said shortly, sharply. “You and everyone else were warm, willing enough bodies and thats what I wanted so I took. Ok?” Renjun’s sharp breaths echoed in the room. He dropped his hands from his hair and walked stiffly back over to his chair, sitting slowly.

“I remember you too.” Renjun said finally. He was starting to deflate, and Jeno wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.

“I’m not surprised.” Bobby said. “I’m sure you remember nearly everyone who had you.”

The room was quiet again. Jeno felt Jaemin make an aborted attempt to cross over to Renjun, before deciding against it. Jeno looked over at Renjun now, breaking his previous rule. It was simply too hard not to. Renjun had an impressively blank face on when you took into account everything Jeno knew about him, and the elevated mood of moments prior.. It was almost odd to see him anything but fiercely passionate. 

“Why did you join IKON?” Renjun asked.

This question surprised Bobby, who lifted his head back up to look over at Renjun again. “Why did I join IKON?”

“Yes.”

“Well.” Bobby furrowed his brows. “Well, I needed work. And I knew people.”

Renjun nodded once. “And now?”

“Now what.” Bobby said, voice flat.

“Are you happy you joined?” Renjun said. 

“Happy?” Bobby said, his voice thick with derision. “Am I happy I joined IKON?”

“It’s not a hard question.” Renjun said.

Bobby opened his mouth to respond, and made several aborted attempts at speaking. Jeno watched his throat work as he grappled with the question and his answer to it. He stopped after a moment and swallowed. “It doesn’t matter.” He said finally. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Renjun nodded. “Nothing matters I guess.” He lifted his hands up in front of him and studied them. “I thought this mattered. This conversation. You.” His hands dropped to his lap quietly. “It doesn’t really.”

Bobby was quiet watching him. “I’m not-“ he cut himself off, shook his head. “I didn’t think.”

“Yeah.” Renjun said. “It’s easier not to.” Renjun stood up and headed towards the door. He paused and took one look back at Bobby in the bed. Jeno wasn’t sure if he was looking for something or just acknowledging that this conversation had happened, but whatever it was it was short before Renjun turned and left the infirmary.

It was quiet. Jeno felt Jaemin give his hand a tight squeeze, and he returned the favor, fierce and short. Bobby kept his head up and looking at the door. Finally he dropped it back onto the pillow again and closed his eyes.


End file.
